Hand hygiene in emergencies: Multiprofessional perceptions from a mixed methods based online survey in Germany.

Despite high vulnerability to infection, hand disinfection compliance in emergencies is low. This is regularly justified as the disinfection procedure delays life support, and instead, wearing disposable gloves is preferred. Simulation studies showed higher achievable compliance than detected in real-life situations. This study aimed to explore healthcare providers' attitudes toward hand disinfection and using gloves in emergencies. We conducted an anonymous online survey in Germany on the attitude and subjective behavior in the five moments of hand hygiene in a closed environment and an open convenience sampling survey. Statistics included paired student's In 400 participants, we detected low priority of WHO-1 (before touching a patient) and WHO-2 (before clean/aseptic procedure) hand hygiene moments, despite knowing the risks of omission of hand disinfection. For all moments, self-assessment exceeded the assessment of colleagues ( Considering bias, the study's subjective nature, the unknown role of emergency-related infections contributing to hospital-acquired infections, and different experiences of healthcare providers, we conclude that hand disinfection before emergencies is de-prioritized and justified by the emergency situation regardless of the objective feasibility. This study reveals subjective and objective barriers to implementation of WHO-1 and WHO-2 moments of hand disinfection to be further evaluated and addressed in educational programs.

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© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.