NURSES-MIDWIVES

HAND HYGIENE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL, PARTICULARLY AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) INTRODUCED THE “5 MOMENTS FOR HAND HYGIENE” (MOHH) TO REDUCE HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS (HAIS) AND PROMOTE PATIENT SAFETY. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF THE WHO 5 MOHH AMONG NURSE-MIDWIVES IN SELECTED WARDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL (UBTH), BENIN CITY, NIGERIA. A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL DESIGN WAS EMPLOYED, USING A STRUCTURED SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM 161 NURSE-MIDWIVES AND ANALYZED USING SPSS VERSION 23. FINDINGS SHOWED THAT 52.2% OF RESPONDENTS HAD GOOD KNOWLEDGE, 31.7% HAD FAIR KNOWLEDGE, AND 16.1% HAD POOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOHH. REGARDING PRACTICE, THE HIGHEST COMPLIANCE WAS SEEN IN MOMENT 3 (AFTER BODY FLUID EXPOSURE/RISK) AND MOMENT 4 (AFTER TOUCHING A PATIENT), WHILE MOMENTS 1 (BEFORE TOUCHING A PATIENT) AND 2 (BEFORE ASEPTIC PROCEDURES) HAD THE LOWEST ADHERENCE RATES. ADDITIONALLY, 60.2% OF RESPONDENTS BELIEVED HAND HYGIENE IS NOT NECESSARY IF GLOVES ARE WORN, AND 85.7% INCORRECTLY THOUGHT THAT HYGIENE COULD BE SKIPPED AT MOMENT 1 IF IT WAS RECENTLY PERFORMED AT MOMENT 5. THESTUDY CONCLUDES THAT WHILE GENERAL AWARENESS OF HAND HYGIENE IS
HIGH AMONG NURSE-MIDWIVES, THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES IN BOTH SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND CONSISTENT PRACTICE OF THE WHO 5 MOHH. STRENGTHENING TRAINING PROGRAMS, IMPROVING SUPPLY OF HYGIENE MATERIALS, AND PROMOTING SUPPORTIVE SUPERVISION ARE RECOMMENDED TO BRIDGE THESE GAPS AND IMPROVE INFECTION CONTROL PRACTICES.