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Poor hand hygiene compliance by health care professionals is the cause of almost 45% of the hospital acquired infections that may result in prolongation of disease duration and hospital stay, lifelong disabilities, economical burden and physical, social and psychological trauma for the patient. This study is designed to determine the knowledge and behavior of healthcare workers towards hand hygiene. It is cross-sectional study, based on observations and questionnaire in the Nishtar hospital Multan, preformed questionnaires were designed to collect the information.156 patients were enrolled in the study, of them were 98 male heath care providers including Doctors, Nurses and paramedics. And 58 were females. The questionnaires were filled by the patients and their interviews were taken face to face after taking informed consent. Results 60% of the healthcare providers were compliant to the hand hygiene and according to 78% of professional’s belief, poor hand hygiene is the most important cause of cross infections. 86% of professionals were following the WHO guidelines of hand hygiene i.e use of water and soap and others used alcohol rubs. Mostly water and soap is preferred, this may be due to limited alcohol swab availability in local setups. The percentage of hand hygiene compliance in paramedics is 38%. It was high in operation theater and in consultant OPD. i.e. 79% and 71% respectively. Conclusion: Poor behavior towards hand hygiene and false sense of security is one of the major contributor towards Nosocomial infections. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve the compliance of health professionals. Key words: Nosocomial Infections, Psychological Trauma, Hand Hygiene, Diseases |
