The adage that cleanliness is next to godliness may not ring true in the corridors and operating theatres of Australian hospitals.

Only 66% of hospital doctors comply with appropriate hand hygiene, compared to 83% of nurses.

Not only are hospital doctors less likely than nurses to comply with the World Health Organization’s “Five Moments for Hand Hygiene”, but the more senior the doctor the less likely he or she is to wash their hands before examining a patient, local research found.  The study analysed data from Hand Hygiene Australia along with hand hygiene rates reported on the MyHospitals website.

Despite showing improvements since the National Hand Hygiene Initiative began in 2009, it found only 66% of hospital doctors comply with appropriate hand hygiene (up from 46%) compared to 83% of nurses (up from 68%).

A negative correlation was also observed between hand hygiene compliance and the educational status of the doctor.

Apparently doctors are often sceptical of hand-washing guidelines and believe “between patient” hand-washing to be sufficient, ignoring the “inevitability of touching potentially contaminated objects like patient notes, bed curtains, door handles, mobile phones and computer keyboards between patients!

No wonder infections are rampant.

Source:  MJA 2014; 200(9):508-09, 534-37