[Hand hygiene of medical and nursing students during clinica rotations: a pilot study on knowledge, attitudes and impact on bacterial contamination]

Abstract

Hand hygiene in nursing and medical students during training: a pilot study on knowledge, practices and impact on bacterial contamination.

Introduction: Despite exhaustive guidelines on hand hygiene (HH), compliance in health care professionals is reported to be low. In order to improve adherence with HH, interventions on students' education should be effective.

Aim: To describe the knowledge, behavior and hand hygiene (HH) practices in nursing and medical students. The results of the pilot study are presented.

Methods: A questionnaire designed to investigate knowledge on HH and its practical implementation was administered to a sample of 50 nursing and 50 medical students. Data collected were associated with hand contamination measured at the beginning and at the end of the training shift.

Results: All nursing students performed HH with a significantly higher frequency compared to medical students. At the end of training, total bacterial counts were significantly reduced in both groups, but more in nursing students. Total bacterial count increased in absence of hygienic practices and the most effective procedure was the alternate use of conventional hand washing and alcohol-based hands rubs. The knowledge of both groups was adequate, although some differences were observed.

Conclusions: At the beginning of their course, nursing students are educated to correct practices that implement during practical training. Medical students receive information on HH later in their education and pay less attention to these aspects, also due to the limited number of physical contacts with patients. Thus, the contents on HH should be anticipated before the start of the training activity.