Impact of Sensitization about Hand Hygiene on Nursing Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is a vital and essential strategy to infection control and prevention (ICP), however adherence to hand hygiene guidelines among health care professionals is persistently inadequate. The current study aimed to ascertain nursing students awareness of hand hygiene and the impact of hand hygiene sensitization on them. Methods: The present study was a prospective study conducted in the microbiology department of a tertiary care hospital. The students were divided into two groups. One group was sensitized with by educating them on the need of hand hygiene. The impact of sensitization was assessed in the post-test, and bacterial isolates were identified. Results: Pre-test analysis revealed mean scores of 5.49 ± 1.32 and 5.05 ± 1.12 among students in Group A and Group B, respectively, and culture positive hand swabs in 27 (67.5%) and 24 (60%) individuals. In post test, the mean score in Groups A and B was 7.07 ± 1.08 and 5.71 ± 1.19, respectively, which was significantly higher in Group A. In the post-sensitization period, the culture positive rates in Group A and Group B students were 7.5% and 27.5%. The predominant organism isolated before sensitization was Staphylococcus aureus and after sensitization was coagulase negative staphylococcus. Conclusion: There was a lack of understanding among nursing students about the critical problem of hand hygiene. Following sensitization, there was significant improvement in awareness and a significant decrease in bacterial isolation.