Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of hand hygiene among nursing students in the south of Vietnam

Abstract

Health care-associated infection (HCAI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality associated with clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures in healthcare organizations. Enhancement of hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers is recognized as a measure to decrease healthcare-associated infections. However, previous studies indicated that healthcare institutions' adherence to hand hygiene procedures was fragile. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of hand hygiene following the five moments for hand hygiene and hand hygiene procedures of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and their associations among 104 bachelor’s nursing students. Knowledge and attitude were examined using a self-structured questionnaire, while practice was evaluated by observation based on the hand hygiene checklist. The study findings showed that 44.2% and 66.3% of participants had good knowledge and a positive attitude regarding hand hygiene. An unsatisfied adherence of 5 moments of hand hygiene (57.5%) and 6 steps of hand hygiene procedure (42.8%) was revealed. Nursing students had significant associations between knowledge, attitude, and hand hygiene practices. In conclusion, unsatisfied levels of knowledge, attitude, and practices among nursing students were reported.