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Background: The burden of healthcare-associated infection worldwide is considerable, and there is a need to improve surveillance and infection control practices such as hand hygiene.
Objectives: The aims of this study were to explore direct care providers’ knowledge about infection prevention and hand hygiene, their attitudes regarding their own and others’ hand hygiene practices, and their ideas and advice for improving infection prevention efforts.
Methods: This exploratory study included interviews with direct care providers in three pediatric long-term care facilities. Two trained nurse interviewers conducted semistructured interviews using an interview guide with open-ended questions. Two other nurse researchers independently transcribed the audio recordings and conducted a thematic analysis using a strategy adapted from the systematic text condensation approach.
Results: From 31 interviews, four major thematic categories with subthemes emerged from the analysis: (a) hand hygiene products; (b) knowledge, awareness, perceptions, and beliefs; (c) barriers to infection prevention practices; and (d) suggested improvements. There was confusion regarding hand hygiene recommendations, use of soap or sanitizer, and isolation precaution policies. There was a robust “us” and “them” mentality between professionals.
Discussion: One essential driver of staff behavior change is having expectations that are meaningful to staff, and many staff members stated that they wanted more in-person staff meetings with education and hands-on, practical advice. Workflow patterns and/or the physical environment need to be carefully evaluated to identify systems and methods to minimize cross-contamination. Further studies need to evaluate if personal sized containers of hand sanitizer (e.g., for the pocket, attached to a belt or lanyard) would facilitate improvement of hand hygiene in these facilities.
