A study to assess hand washing compliance among nursing professionals in general wards of Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences

Hand washing is the practice, which keeps the hands free from pathogens or decrease the amount prior to any procedure or touching the patient. Health Care associated infections (HCAIs) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hospital acquired infections posses a very real and serious threat to all who are admitted in hospitals. Evidence based guidelines for Health Care Workers hand hygiene practice exist, but compliance with these are internationally low (Creedon, 2005)1. The design adopted for the study was Descriptive design. The study was conducted in all the General medical and surgical wards. Census method was used to collect the data. 116 nurses were working in general wards of PIMS out of which 113 nurses participated in the study. Among 113 Nurses, 69.9% (79) had average compliance to hand washing practices, 21.2% (24) had good hand washing practices and 8.8% (10) had poor washing practices and the reasons for non-compliance to hand washing practices. 7.1% said they were too busy, 2.7% just forgot and 1.8% said the materials were not available. The results revealed that compliance to hand washing practices was average among nurses and there is a need to reinforce the use of standard hand washing protocols available in their wards.