Assessment of Knowledge and Practices of Hand Hygiene among Health Workers in Rwanda

Background

Hand hygiene (HH) compliance among health care workers has been very low in Rwanda, with average compliance of less than 40%. There was no nationwide data related to HH compliance in Rwanda except for a few studies in different institutions on quality improvement. The aim of the study was to assess HH compliance among healthcare workers.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 29 health care workers (20 nurses/midwives and 9 doctors) working at the maternity unit at Kirehe District Hospital in Rwanda. Knowledge was assessed using the WHO HH questionnaire among 25 of those health workers.

Results

The overall knowledge score was 77.5%, and 44% of participants had moderate HH knowledge. Gloves were 98% available and accessible to health professionals. The hand rub was available in 52%, mostly used by doctors who carried it in their pockets (40.6). The availability of soap and water was 45% and 29%, respectively. A binomial test was done to see if there was any factor that was associated with HH knowledge; it was found that there was no statistically significant association between knowledge and profession, gender, work experience, age, and training.

Conclusion

The findings of this study showed that most healthcare workers had good knowledge of HH. Healthcare workers were observed putting on gloves without washing their hands between patients during rounds. The HH infrastructure was poorly located, with limited supplies, and there were no hand washing facilities in some rooms.

Other Information

Published in: International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2023.100585