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Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 320
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
USE OF ALCOHOL-BASED HAND SANITIZER FOR HAND HYGIENE USO DA PREPARAÇÃO ALCOÓLICA PARA HIGIENIZAÇÃO DAS MÃOS
USO DE PREPARACIÓN ALCOHÓLICA PARA HIGIENE DE MANOS Flávia Maria Derhun1, Verusca Soares de Souza2, Maria Antônia Ramos Costa3, Liliana Yujie Hayakawa4, Kelly
Cristina Inoue5, Laura Misue Matsuda6
ABSTRACT
Objective: to determine nursing professionals’ knowledge about alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene. Method: descriptive, exploratory and quantitative study conducted with 27 nursing professionals of a hospital belonging to a private health plan provider, who completed a semi-structured questionnaire. The level of knowledge was assessed based on the index of positivity. Correct answers ≥80% were considered satisfactory. The results are presented in tables. Results: for questions addressing the full coverage of hands with the product and the need of drying the hands after rubbing, the knowledge was satisfactory (92.6% and 85.2%, respectively); however, for the minimal time required by the procedure and need of having the hands dried prior to the procedure, the answers were unsatisfactory (18.5% and 59.3%, respectively). Conclusion: nursing professionals’ level of knowledge was insufficient. This study draws attention to the need for continuing education on hand hygiene using alcoholic preparations in order to enhance patient safety. Descriptors: Patient Safety; Cross Infection; Infection Control; Health Personnel; Nursing Team; Hand Hygiene.
RESUMO
Objetivo: verificar o conhecimento de profissionais de enfermagem sobre a fricção antisséptica das mãos com preparação alcoólica. Método: estudo quantitativo, descritivo e exploratório realizado com 27 profissionais de enfermagem de um hospital de operadora de plano privado de saúde, que preencheram um questionário semiestruturado. O nível de conhecimento foi analisado com base no Índice de Positividade e considerado satisfatório quando os acertos foram ≥80%. Os resultados foram apresentados em tabelas. Resultados: para as questões sobre a cobertura das mãos com o produto e necessidade de secagem após fricção, o conhecimento foi satisfatório (92,6% e 85.2%, respectivamente); mas, para o tempo mínimo do procedimento e necessidade das mãos estarem previamente secas foi insatisfatório (18.5% e 59.3%, respectivamente). Conclusão: o conhecimento da equipe de enfermagem foi insuficiente. Este estudo chama a atenção para a necessidade de ações de educação permanente sobre higienização das mãos com a preparação alcoólica a fim de fortalecer a cultura de segurança do paciente. Descritores: Segurança do Paciente; Infecção Hospitalar; Controle de Infecções; Pessoal de Saúde; Equipe de Enfermagem; Higiene das Mãos.
RESUMEN
Objetivo: verificar el conocimiento de los profesionales de enfermería acerca del lavado de manos con preparación alcohólica. Método: estudio descriptivo, exploratorio y cuantitativo llevado a cabo con 27 profesionales de enfermería de un hospital perteneciente a una compañía privada de plan de salud, quienes respondieron un cuestionario semiestructurado. Se analizó el nivel de conocimiento basado en el índice de positividad y considerando satisfactorio ≥80% de respuestas correctas. Los resultados se presentan en tablas. Resultados: para preguntas acerca de la cobertura completa de las manos con el producto y la necesidad de secado de ellas después del lavado, el conocimiento fue satisfactorio (92.6% y 85,2%, respectivamente); pero, sobre el tiempo mínimo de realización del procedimiento y la necesidad de que las manos estuviesen previamente secas fue insatisfactorio (18.5% y 59,3%, respectivamente). Conclusión: el conocimiento del personal de enfermería fue insuficiente. Este estudio llama la atención sobre la necesidad de educación permanente sobre la higiene de las manos con una preparación alcohólica con el fin de fortalecer la seguridad del paciente. Seguridad del Paciente; Infeccion Hospitalaria; Control de Infecciones; Personal de Salud; Grupo de Enfermería; Higiene de las Manos.
1Master’s degree in Nursing, Doctoral candidate at the Graduate Nursing Program of the State University of Maringá (UEM). Maringá, PR, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2653-5022; Doctoral candidate at the Graduate Nursing Program of the State University of Maringá (UEM). Maringá, PR, Brazil. E-mail: E-mail: [email protected]; http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3305- 6812; 3Ph.D. in NUrsing, State University of Paraná. Paranavaí, PR, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6656- 3864. 4Doctoral candidate at the Graduate Nursing Program of the State University of Maringá (UEM). Maringá, PR, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8168-6707. 5Ph.D. in Nursing, Ingá University Center (UNINGÁ). Maringá, PR, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7709-9817; 6Ph.D. in Fundamental Nursing, State University of Maringá (UEM). Maringá, PR, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4280-7203
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 321
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
Health professionals’ compliance with
hand hygiene is one of the priorities
focuses on safe and high quality healthcare
promotion. In this way, both nationally and
internationally, researchers, managers, and
professionals working in the health field
have investigated, discussed, created, and
implemented strategies to perform this
procedure properly in the necessary
occasions in healthcare settings.
The term “hand hygiene” generally
represents an action for preventing the
transmission of microorganisms between
patients and those involved in healthcare.
Hand hygiene is worldwide recognized as a
primary measure to be adopted for
controlling healthcare-related infections.1
Since the creation of the World Alliance
for Patient Safety, in 2004, the World
Health Organization has created programs
and guidelines to sensitize and mobilize
health professionals and the population,
disseminating knowledge to allow changes
in the world scenario. An example is the
first global challenge launched by this
initiative with the slogan "Clean care is
safer care", focused on prevention and
control of healthcare-related infections
and health professionals’ knowledge about
hand hygiene.2
In line with the guidelines of the World
Health Organization, the global challenge
was agreed and implemented in Brazil by
the National Health Surveillance Agency
(ANVISA). In this context, the Ordinance
No. 529 of 1st April 2013 implemented the
National Program for Patient Safety, which
established the need of creating and
implementing protocols for patient safety
in all Brazilian healthcare settings. In July
2013, the Ordinance No. 1,377 approved
the Patient Safety Protocols, which
included recommendations for hand
hygiene.1
It is recognized that, especially in
hospitals, healthcare requires physical
contact with patients/customers/users,
because, to carry out their activities,
health professionals often touch the
patients, their utensils and equipment. For
these reasons, their hands are the main
vehicle for the transmission of infectious
agents in the hospital environment. This
way, to stop the cycle of cross-transmission
of microorganisms between patients and
workers, it is necessary to adopt basic
standards to guide the practice of hand
hygiene.3-4
Basic standards for hand hygiene
include: when this procedure should be
performed; the product to be used; the
description of the technique; and the
appropriate duration of the procedure in
accordance with each situation.1,2 With
respect to monitoring health professionals’
compliance with these requirements, the
main healthcare departments point out
hand hygiene as an important indicator of
patient safety and quality healthcare.2,4
Although hand hygiene has been widely
discussed over the years, the technique and
the products used have changed. This fact
can be observed in the use of alcoholic
preparations for antiseptic hand rub
replacing conventional washing with soap
and water in the following occasions: when
hands are not visibly dirty; before and after
touching the patients; after removing the
gloves; and, also, before handling
medications or preparing food.1,2
Antiseptic hand rube with an alcoholic
preparation is a type of procedure that lasts
from 20 to 30 seconds. It is intended to
reduce the microbial load in the hands and
consists of the application of this product in
sufficient amount to cover all areas of both
hands. Therefore, there is no need to rinse
the hands and dry them with paper towel or
another type of material/equipment.1,4
The advantages of using an alcoholic
preparation include: the elimination of most
germs; short time required to complete the
procedure; easy provision of the product at
healthcare units; better tolerability of skin;
and little or no change in the physical
structure of the facilities for installing
dispensers.5
It is worth mentioning that only in 2010
ANVISA published the Resolution of the
Collegiate Board No. 42, of 25th October,
which establishes the obligation of health
institutions to provide alcoholic
preparations for antiseptic hand rub in the
country.5 According to this resolution, the
alcoholic preparation should be made
available in healthcare units, in visible
places with easy access and in a way that
health professionals do not need to leave
the site to sanitize their hands.5
Therefore, it is important to assess the
knowledge of healthcare professionals
regarding hand hygiene performed with an
INTRODUCTION
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 322
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
alcoholic preparation, especially for nursing
staffs, because these professionals provide
direct and uninterrupted care to patients 24
hours a day.
Considering that hand hygiene is one of
the main items for patient safety, and that
compliance with this procedure is related to
theoretical knowledge in daily practice,3 the
present study becomes relevant, because
the results can promote new studies,
discussions, and changes in healthcare
management, with positive repercussions
for patients and health teams.
Taking into consideration that the
effectiveness of hand hygiene depends on
the duration of the procedure vand the
technique used,1 the question is: Do nursing
professionals know the technique of alcohol-
based hand rub for hand hygiene?
● To determine nursing professionals’
knowledge about alcohol-based hand rub for
hand hygiene.
Quantitative, descriptive and
exploratory study conducted in a hospital
belonging to a private health plan provider,
located in the northwest of the State of
Paraná, Brazil. This hospital began
operations in 2008 and currently has 23
beds for low and medium complexity
hospitalizations in medical-surgical,
maternal-and-child, and semi-intensive
care units, in addition to seven observation
beds in the emergency unit.
The nursing staff of this institution was
composed of seven nurses and twenty-six
nurse technicians, working 42 hours per
week. We invited the nursing professionals
that met the following criteria to
participate in the study: a) being part of
the nursing staff of the hospital; b) aged 18
years or older; and c) formally accept to
participate in the study.
The data were collected from 27
professionals (six nurses and 21 nursing
technicians), who completed a
questionnaire containing questions relating
to data on the participants (questions 1 to
12), the infrastructure of the hospital
related to the availability of alcoholic
preparation for the professionals (questions
14 and 15), and those specifically related
to alcohol-based hand rub technique
(questions 18 and 19), contained in the
instrument called Hand Hygiene Knowledge
Test for Health Professionals.6
The data were collected and processed
in spreadsheets by means of statistical
analysis using the Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) and EpiInfo
7.1.3TM softwares.20 We used descriptive
statistics to measure the dispersion of
continuous variables, as well as frequencies
and percentages of categorical variables.
With respect to inferential statistics, we
used Fischer’s exact test (5% significance
level) to assess the association between the
number of correct answers and the
professional categories (nurses and nurse
technicians) and years spent in the nursing
profession, which was dichotomized into
lesser or greater using the average as a cut-
off point (seven years).
Due to the lack of a parameter for
assessing the health professionals’ level of
knowledge using the Hand Hygiene
Knowledge Test for Health Professionals,6
we used the positivity index, which has
been used in the field of nursing to assess
healthcare quality.7 This index is
interpreted from the number of positive
answers (correct) as follows: desirable
(100% positivity); adequate (90% to 99%
positivity); safe (80% to 89% positivity);
borderline (71% to 79% positivity); and poor
(70% or less positivity).7 This way, we
considered that 80% or a higher percentage
of correct answers in each question was a
satisfactory result.
The present study complied with all the
ethical and legal aspects and the research
project was approved by the Standing
Research Ethics Committee for research
involving humans of the State University of
Maringá, PR, Brazil, Opinion No.
435,164/2013, and CAAE No.
22926613.1.0000.0104.
The participants of the study were three
men (11.1%) and 24 women (88.9%) aged
from 21 to 70 years (average = 33.3 years;
standard deviation = 10.011 years). The
years spent in the nursing profession were
between three and 35 years (average = 7.3
years; standard deviation = 7.40 years) and
the time spent working at the hospital
ranged from one month to six years
(average = 2.36 years; standard deviation =
1.78 years). Table 1 illustrates the
distribution of answers to questions
RESULTS
METHOD
OBJECTIVE
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 323
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
relating to the infrastructure of the institution.
Table 1. Distribution of frequencies and percentages of the answers to the questions relating to the infrastructure of the institution. Paranavaí (PR), Brazil, 2014.
Question Yes No
n % n %
14. Participation in training on hand hygiene.
2 5
9 2 6
2 7 0.4
15. Availability of alcohol-based hand sanitizer at the institution.
2 7
1
0 - -
It is worth mentioning that only one
nurse (3.7%), who had worked in the
profession for nine years and at the
institution for three years, answered all the
questions relating to specific knowledge
about alcohol-based hand rub for hand
hygiene correctly. The distribution of the
answers referring to the classification of
the level of knowledge can be observed in
Table 2.
Table 2. Distribution of answers and classification of nursing professionals’ knowledge about alcohol-based hand rub. Paranavaí (PR), Brazil, 2014.
Question No. %
18. Minimal time for destruction of most microorganisms in hands by alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
a) 3 seconds 3 11.1 Poor b) 10 seconds 9 33.3 c) 20 seconds* 5 18.6 d) 1 minute 10 37 19a. Need of covering both hand surfaces with alcohol-based hand sanitizer,
True* 25 92.6 Adequate False 2 7.4 19b. Need of having both hands dried before using alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
True* 16 59.3 Poor False 11 40.7 19c. It is allowed to dry the hands with paper towels after alcohol-based hand rub.
True 4 14.8 Safe
False* 23 85.2
Note. *Correct answer
The results of Fisher’s exact test
indicated that there was no statistically
significant association between the
professional category―or years spent in the
nursing profession―and the number of
correct answers to questions relating to
alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene
(Table 3).
Table 3. Association between correct answers relating to the use of alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene. Paranavaí (PR), Brazil, 2014.
Question Category Years spent in the nursing profession
N NT p value <7 years >7 years p value No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%)
18 2 (33.3) 3 (14.3) 0.303 3 (16.7) 2 (22.2) 1 19a 6 (100) 19 (90.5) 1 18 (100) 7 (77.8) 0.102 19b 2 (33.3) 14 (66.7) 0.187 11 (61.1) 5 (55.6) 1 19c 5 (83.3) 18 (85.7) 1 15 (83.3) 8 (89.9) 0.631
Note. N = nurse; NT = nursing technician; p value = 5% significance level for Fisher’s exact test.
Most participants were women (88.9%),
with an average age of 33.3 years. This
finding is in line with data from other
studies that had also investigated hand
hygiene.8-9 With respect to the years spent
in the nursing profession, the institution
preferred hiring experienced professionals,
given that these professionals had from
three to 35 years of experience, as
described earlier.
When questioned about the
infrastructure provided by the institution
for alcohol-based hand rub (Table 1), most
of the professionals (92.6%) reported that
DISCUSSION
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 324
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
they had received some kind of training on
hand hygiene (question 14). All of them
reported that they knew about the
existence/availability of alcoholic
preparations for hand hygiene at the
hospital (question 15). This last finding, in
particular, indicates the compliance with
ANVISA standards regarding the obligation
to provide such product in healthcare
units.5
Even though the level of knowledge
related to infrastructure issues was
satisfactory, only one nurse (3.7%) knew in
full the recommendations for the correct
use of alcohol-based hand rub. This
indicates the existence of knowledge gaps
among the professionals assessed, which
had not been resolved by participating in
training on hand hygiene.
It should be noted that none of the four
specific questions about alcohol-based
hand rub for hand hygiene was correctly
answered by all the participants (Table 2),
and in two questions the level of
knowledge was considered "poor"
(questions 18 and 19b, Table 2). Without a
doubt, these data are causes for concern,
because inappropriate or incorrect hand
hygiene can spread microorganisms,
including those referred to as
multiresistant organisms, which have been
the subject of investigations due to their
potential to cause damage to the
patients.4,8 In order to minimize such
problem, the literature points out that the
professionals should be sensitized,
motivated, and guided, so that they can
put into practice the knowledge acquired in
training programs.3
The analysis of the answers to all the
question about the use of alcohol-based
hand rub indicated that only five
participants (18.5%) provided correct
answers to the question about the minimal
time required by the alcoholic preparation
to destroy the majority of microorganisms
existing in the hands (question 18), which
was classified as "poor" level of knowledge.
This is an alarming result, because the
duration of the hand rub procedure is an
essential condition for the destruction of
the microorganisms and, in the present
study, it was lower than that of a research
conducted with 24 health professionals
from a public hospital of Parnaíba, State of
Piauí, Brazil, which did not find a
satisfactory level of knowledge about the
same question.10
It should be noted that 12 professionals
(44.4%) indicated alternatives with less
than 20 seconds, and 10 of them (37.1%)
indicated one minute as enough or
necessary time for performing alcohol-
based hand rub for hand hygiene. These
results need to be improved, because they
indicated insufficient professionals’
knowledge about the proper technique and
how to perform it.
According to the basic hygiene
technique, the hands should be rubbed
until the alcohol-based preparation has
completely dried, and rubbing hands for
less than 20 seconds means no interruption
of pathogens transmission, which can lead
to the occurrence of healthcare-related
infections.1,4 The time spent for hand
hygiene directly influences the reduction of
skin microbiota acquired by professionals
during direct contact with the patients
(colonized or infected), the environment,
and contaminated surfaces.4
Despite the fact that the reduction of
bacterial load in hands depends on the type
and concentration of alcohol in the
preparations used for antiseptic hand rub,
most microorganisms are eliminated with
an estimated time of a third of the time
spent on hand washing with soap and
water, whose duration should be 40 to 60
seconds. Therefore, the recommended
time for antiseptic hand rub is 20 to 30
seconds.1,4
Based on the foregoing, alcohol-based
hand rub performed for a short time (3 and
10 seconds) was reported as correct by 12
participants (44.4%) (Table 2). These
answers were considered ineffective. To
minimize the lack of knowledge and/or
compliance with the minimal time required
by the alcoholic solution to reach the
desired effect, it is suggested that the
“Hand Hygiene Posters” prepared by the
ANVISA/MS are placed just above the
dispensers of the alcoholic preparation. In
this way, the professionals will be
constantly reminded about the proper
technique for alcohol-based hand rub.4
Another issue that exhibited "poor" level
of knowledge was the need of having the
hands dried before using the alcoholic
preparation (question 19b, Table 2). In
part, this result can be explained by the
lack of clarity in the latest protocol
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 325
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
released by an official body of the
country.1 This protocol does not provide
that information relating to the application
of sufficient amount of alcohol preparation
in one hand, which is considered the first
step of antiseptic hand rub.
On the other hand, the participants’
level of knowledge was considered
"adequate" for questions relating to the
need of full coverage of the hands with the
alcoholic preparation for antiseptic hand
rub (92.6%, question 19a), and "safe" with
respect to the need of drying the hands
with paper towels after alcohol-based hand
rub (85.2%, question 19c), as can be seen in
Table 2. These data indicate that the
majority of the respondents had knowledge
about the issues questioned; however,
when it comes to the use of alcohol-based
hand rub, which is considered a necessary,
efficient, easy, quick, and common
procedure,1,4 it can be assumed that the
number of correct answers should or could
have been higher.
It should be noted that there was
inconsistency of knowledge about the need
of full coverage of the surface of both
hands by the alcoholic preparation
(question 19a), and the minimal time
required for the destruction of most
microorganisms in the hands by the
alcoholic preparation (question 18),
considered "adequate" and "poor",
respectively (Table 2). It should be
considered that―according to the basic
hygiene technique―the hands should be
rubbed until the alcohol-based preparation
is completely dried.1,4 This means that
antiseptic hand rub performed for less than
20 seconds can imply the use of insufficient
amount of alcohol-based preparation.2,11
Even though formal protocols have not
normalized the required amount of
alcoholic-based preparations for antiseptic
hand rub, it is recommended that the
amount should be sufficient to cover all
areas of both hands, so that, after drying
the product, the hands may be free of
contamination.1 A study tested six alcohol-
based preparations in different
presentations (foam, liquid, and gel) and
found that complete drying had occurred
with amounts ranging from 1.7 to 2.1 ml.
However, with respect to effectiveness,
the minimal amount required had been 3
ml.13 It is worth mentioning that the
amount of product should be determined in
accordance with the size of each
professional’s hands.12
The knowledge gap observed in the
participants assessed (Table 2) can be due
to two factors, namely: not performing
hand hygiene procedures in daily work;
and/or not recognizing the effectiveness of
alcoholic preparations. These assumptions
are reinforced by the literature, according
to which health professionals prefer to
sanitize their hands with soap and water,
rather than using alcoholic preparations,
regardless of the healthcare procedure
and/or recommendations.8,10
From another perspective, a study
conducted in a public hospital of Parnaiba,
State of Piauí, Brazil, assessed hand
hygiene procedures and the knowledge of
24 health professionals (physicians, nurses,
nursing technicians, physiotherapists, and
x-ray technicians). It found that 18
participants (75%) did not perform the
correct technique for hand hygiene, and
the main justification (61.1%) referred to
work overload and insufficient time for
completing the procedure.10 In such
environment, the use of alcohol-based
hand rub should be the best choice (as long
as specific indications are followed),2
because it has the potential to save time,
especially when dispensers are located at
strategic places, as advocated.5
Another study conducted with 135
nursing professionals of a public hospital of
Londrina, State of Paraná, Brazil, found
that compliance with hand hygiene was
influenced by personal satisfaction of 45
participants (33.3%), and job satisfaction of
58 participants(42.9%).14 This way,
compliance with hand hygiene can be
influenced by motivational factors, such as
the possibility of professionals’
participation in assessing the quality of
materials and supplies to be purchased for
this procedure,14 as well as in the
assessment of products used at the
institution. On this basis, it is important
that health institutions consider the
opinion of their professionals for acquiring
alcoholic preparations that can be
homogenously distributed without causing
irritation and/or dryness of the skin.
Regarding the association between
correct answers to questions relating to the
use of alcohol-based hand rub, according to
the professional category and years spent
in the nursing profession (Table 3), we did
Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 326
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
not observe significant statistical
difference in any question. However, the
answers analyzed considering the
professional category indicated that there
was greater proportion of answers to
questions relating to the need of having the
hands dried before using the alcoholic
preparation (question 19b) and need of
drying after the procedure (question 19c).
It is worth noting that this fact occurred in
the nursing technical category (66.7 and
85.7%, respectively) and not in the nurse
category (33.3 and 83.3%, respectively).
The data previously discussed are
worrying, because nurses are responsible
for the actions involving the other
professionals of the nursing staff. This way,
they should have updated knowledge
(amount and quality).15 The differential
between nursing categories is scientific
knowledge, which was observed among
nursing technicians. Without a doubt, this
is a paradox that deserves to be
investigated, so that actions can be
planned in different fields of nurses’
training and practice.
Regarding the proportion of correct
answers, according to the years spent in
the nursing profession (Table 3), there was
greater number of correct answers to
specific questions about the technique for
hand hygiene using antiseptic hand rub
among the professionals with less years
spent in the nursing profession. It was
expected that professionals with less than
seven years spent in the nursing profession
had greater proportion of correct answers,
given that their training had occurred in
the same period that Brazil established the
obligation of providing alcoholic
preparations for hand hygiene in all health
institutions.5
Based on the above, it can be considered
that educational and risk management
actions geared to the implementation of
alcohol-based hand rub were necessary for
the nursing staff of the institution assessed.
The knowledge of the nursing staff
assessed about alcohol-based hand rub for
hand hygiene was insufficient. Although
only one nurse answered all the questions
relating to alcohol-based hand rub
correctly, the knowledge of the nursing
professionals about the need of covering all
areas of both hands with the alcoholic
preparation for antiseptic hand rub, and
drying the hands with paper towels after
performing the procedure was satisfactory.
On the other hand, the knowledge about
the minimal time required for destruction
of most microorganisms in the hands by the
alcoholic preparation, and having the hands
dried to use the alcoholic preparation was
unsatisfactory.
Even though we did not observe a
statistically significant association between
the number of correct answers and the
professional category, or years spent in the
nursing profession, in questions relating to
antiseptic hand rub, the nursing technicians
had a higher proportion of correct answers
than nurses in half of the questions. This
fact requires more specific studies,
because nurses and healthcare managers
should necessarily have theoretical and
practical knowledge about the most
important and basic nursing techniques,
i.e., hand hygiene, either traditionally
performed with soap and water or using
alcoholic preparations.
This study contributes by providing
theoretical subsidies to managers and
health professionals to address the
knowledge of professionals about alcohol-
based hand rub for hand hygiene. At the
same time, it points to the need of
continuing education initiatives geared
towards strengthening patient safety and
providing harm-free healthcare.
The main limitations of the present
study were the fact of not having included
other categories of health professionals,
and not having assessed the knowledge of
the participants in loco. Therefore, we
suggest that further studies should be
conducted with other health professionals,
with a focus on theoretical knowledge, but,
mainly, on practice.
The authors are thankful to the members
of the Health Management Research,
Practice and Teaching Department
(NUPPEGES) of the State University of
Maringá, State of Paraná, Brazil, and all the
participants of the study.
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Derhun FM, Souza VS de, Costa MAR et al. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for...
English/Portuguese
J Nurs UFPE on line., Recife, 12(2):320-8, Feb., 2018 328
ISSN: 1981-8963 ISSN: 1981-8963 https://doi.org/10.5205/1981-8963-v12i2a23095p320-328-2018
Submission: 2017/07/17 Accepted: 2017/12/06 Publishing: 2018/02/01
Corresponding Address
Flávia Maria Derhun Rua Professor Lauro Eduardo Werneck, 1023 Bairro Jardim Universitário CEP: 87020-020 ― Maringá (PR), Brazil
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