The assessment of hand hygeine practice amongst healthcare workers in Aba South LGA Abia State

Abstract

Background: Almost all procedures carried out in the hospitals, maternity homes and clinics are done using the hands. It is therefore of utmost importance that health care providers maintain good hand hygiene practice for effective heath care practice and prevention of diseases both to themselves and to their patients as the hands can serve as a good anchor for most germs and therefore promote their spread to patients.

Objective: To assess the hand hygiene practice among health care providers in Aba South L.G.A, Abia State.

Results: 261 personnel participated and 57.1% fell within the age of 20-30 with females constituting 84.7%. Out of the 158 participants with excellent knowledge on hand hygiene practice, 112(70.9%) have moderate level of practice, 35(22.1%) have excellent practice while 6.7% have poor practice. Of the 64 participants with moderate level of knowledge, moderate practice was 38(59.4%), excellent practice was 23(36%) while poor practice was (4.7%). Those with insufficient knowledge were 39 out of which 64.1% of them have poor practice.

Conclusion: This study has shown that most health workers have heard of hand hygiene practice according to WHO and know the basic steps involved in hand washing practice which is the most practiced form of hand hygiene practice, although high workload affects their level of practice of appropriate hand hygiene practice.

Keywords: hand hygiene, healthcare professionals, hospitals, Abia