Avaliação da implementação da higiene das mãos em hospital estadual de referência

Abstract

Introduction: Hand hygiene stands out as one of the International Patient Safety Goals because it is one of the most effective measures in controlling Healthcare-Associated Infections. A study associated HAIs with a higher risk of long-term mortality, higher costs, increased time of hospital stay and reospitalization. Purpose: To evaluate the implementation of hand hygiene practices in a state reference hospital. Method: This is a quantitative, non-interventionist, exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional research. The study was carried out in a hospital, located in the health center of the city of Teresina - PI. The population is compound by all the nurses who are developing activities for patients assisted by the ICUs of the referred hospital, and by the managers responsible for specific departments of the institution. The data were collected in the period between December 2024 and January 2025. For the assistant nurses, a questionnaire regarding the implementation of hand hygiene practices in the work sector was applied, using the World Health Organization's Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Guide as a reference. For the managers, an adaptation of the World Health Organization's Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Guide was applied. Finally, the responses obtained with the application of the two questionnaires were analyzed comparatively. Results: The group of 12 nurses who agreed to participate in the study and met all inclusion requirements included professionals who work in the 4 intensive care units of the hospital where the research was conducted. The average time of university education in nursing presented by the interviewees was 10 years, while the average time of work as an intensive care nurse was 3 years and 2 months. Regarding the nurse managers who participated in the study, it is worth noting that the sample was composed of 5 professionals, who respectively occupy the following positions within the institution: General Director, Nursing Manager, Coordinator of the Hospital Infection Control Committee, Coordinator of the Patient Safety Unit, and Technical Responsible Nurse of ICUs 1 and 2. Conclusion: When analyzing the responses obtained in the application of the research instruments, a variety of responses to objective questions is observed, a fact that produces doubts regarding the real state of some of the points investigated and promotes the feeling of fragmentation in the mechanism for implementing hand hygiene.