An obsevational study on hand washingpractices among nurses in pediatric units in selected hospitals, Mangalore

Nosocomial infections constitute a very real and serious threat to all people who are admitted in the hospital. On an average nosocomial infections complicate 5%-10% of all hospital infections. But in India this rate is more than 30%.

To determine the hand washing practices of nurses in paediatric units

A descriptive survey approach was adopted and Descriptive obtrusive naturalistic observational research design was used for the present study. The setting for the study was the Paediatric units of A.J. Hospital and Research Centre, Govt. Lady Goshen Hospital, and the Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre Mangalore, Karnataka. In this study, the sample consists of 60 nurses working in the paediatric units of selected hospitals of Mangalore selected by Purposive sampling technique. The tool was observational checklist on hand washing practices among nurses were prepared.

The study revealed that majority (68%) of nurses' hand washing practice was average and 32% of nurses had poor practice. The significant difference in hand washing practices scores of nurses working in NICU, PICU and Paediatric ward. The calculated F value (F=29.6) was greater than the table value (p=.0001) at 0.05 level of significance.

The study concluded that majority (68%) of nurses' hand washing practice was average and 32% of nurses had poor practice. Conclusion The results of the study can be used as an example for giving importance of health education in relation to prevention of infection through proper hand washing practices.