%0 Journal Article %T Hand Hygiene Compliance in a Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit in La Habana %J Hospital Practices and Research %I Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences %Z 2476-390X %A Guanche Garcell, Humberto %A Gonzalez Alvarez, Luis %A González Valdés, Anayka %A Cardenas Goulet, Katerine %A Fresneda Septiem, Gloria %A Gutierrez García, Francisco %D 2019 %\ 09/01/2019 %V 4 %N 3 %P 102-104 %! Hand Hygiene Compliance in a Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit in La Habana %K Hand hygiene %K compliance %K Critical care unit %K Medical-Surgical %K La Habana %R 10.15171/hpr.2019.20 %X Background: Hand hygiene plays a key role in the prevention of healthcare-associated infection in critical patients. Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate compliance with hand hygiene practices. Methods: An observational and descriptive study was carried out in a 35-bed medical-surgical critical care unit in La Habana (Cuba) from January 2017 to December 2018. The observational method recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used. Results: Overall compliance was 34.2% (5516/16 125), with better compliance among physicians (39%) compared with nurses (31.4%) and ancillary staff (19.5%). Better compliance was observed after patient contact (65.7%) and after contact with patients’ surroundings (42.0%) in comparison with greater focus on patient safety as before patient contact (23.3%) and before an aseptic task (11.4%). Hand washing was performed more frequently than hand rubs. Conclusion: Compliance with hand hygiene practices is low and no improvement in compliance was observed during the study period. This practice is related to the high risk of transmission of healthcare-related infections in critical patients and requires quality improvement interventions. %U https://www.jhpr.ir/article_92397_dc5b7782b1986d362a5054d781799b74.pdf