Hand hygiene

One of the main challenges faced by the Hospital Infection Control Service is monitoring healthcare professionals’ adherence to hand hygiene. This study seeks to find out and collect data on the issue involving the multidisciplinary health team in terms of preventing hospital infections in a hospital unit, based on studies that show that many infections can be prevented by the simple act of hand washing. The initial purpose of this work is to carry out a literature review, complemented by field research. This is a descriptive, quantitative case study that was carried out in the adult intensive care unit over a period of five weeks. Ninety ICU health professionals were observed over a period of five weeks for 1.5 hours each in various shifts - always during the day at the start of each shift - at two points in time: Before and after contact with the patient. This data will be tabulated and then analysed using check sheets and questionnaires validated by WHO PAHO.