Hand Hygiene Practices among Staff Nurses during Drug Administration at Selected Tertiary Health Care Centre of Ludhiana, Punjab

Background of the study: Convincing evidence demonstrates that improved hand hygiene can reduce the frequency of health care-associated infections. Failure to comply with hand hygiene is considered the leading cause of health care-associated infections, contributes to the spread of multi-resistant organisms, and is recognized as a significant contributor to outbreaks of infection. Aim of the study: So, the present study was conducted to assess the hand hygiene practices during medication administration. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted at selected tertiary hospital of Ludhiana. A total of 200 staff nurses were enrolled through convenience sampling. The tools and protocol were developed through review of relevant literature and validated by experts from field of nursing. Tools used in the study were interview schedule and check list to assess available hand washing facilities and hand hygiene practices among staff nurses. Results: out of 200 staff nurses, only 7.5 % washed their hands both before and after medication administration, while 27.5% only before the drug administration and 53.5% after drug administration regardless of available hand washing facilities. Conclusion: Compliance to hand washing was significantly low among staff nurses, thus it can be recommended that hand washing practices should be reinforced through regular in-service education and continuous monitoring and performance feedback.