Quantitative Research Critique and Ethical Considerations Quantitative Studies – Hand Hygiene
Hand hygiene is the most common and effective infection prevention and control (IPC) in controlling and preventing Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs significantly affect patient safety and are a risk factor for morbidity and mortality (Haque et al., 2020). HAIs are associated with devices used in patient care procedures, such as catheters and ventilators, or due to infections on surgery sites (Dadi et al., 2021). A majority of HAIs are preventable with proper IPC efforts within the hospital environment. Despite the effectiveness of hand hygiene and IPC in hospital settings, adherence-related protocols fade with time. This makes a lack of adherence to hand hygiene protocols and the associated risk of higher rates of HAIs issues of concern in nursing care settings. Notably, adherence to hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers depends on their knowledge of microbial transmission during healthcare delivery, HAIs, and the key principles of hand hygiene (Tartari et al., 2019). This paper summarizes and compares two quantitative studies to help answer the PICOT question developed and support strategies to improve adherence to hand hygiene and reduction of HAI rates.
PICOT Question
In healthcare workers (P), does hand hygiene education (I) compared to regular hand washing protocols (C) improve adherence to hand hygiene protocols and reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections (O) over six months?
Background of Studies
Stangerup et al. (2021) in the article, “Hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A long-term follow-up study” aim to establish whether compliance with hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers changes with time with a focus on the adherence trends before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective is to identify factors and management approaches influencing hand hygiene adherence among HCWs. The problem of focus in the study is the differences and changes in adherence and compliance to hand hygiene protocols before and during a pandemic. This study is significant to nursing as it helps understand changes in hand hygiene adherence in hospital settings during various times and conditions. The authors developed three hypotheses. Termination of the intervention is hypothesized to make the HCWs less aware of HH during their clinical work routines, reflected by a decrease in HHC. HHC is hypothesized to be higher during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic, and “HHC would be higher during daytime and on weekdays because of more staff resources available.”
The purpose of the second study article, “Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding the World Health Organization’s “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene”: Evidence from a Vietnamese Central General Hospital” by Van Nguyen et al. (2020) is to identify the influence of knowledge and attitudes influence the compliance to hand hygiene protocols among healthcare workers. The study specifically focuses on the HCW’s knowledge and attitudes towards the WHO’s “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” in a Vietnamese central general hospital. The main problem identified in the study is how the levels of knowledge and attitudes of HCWs towards hand hygiene protocols influence the compliance levels to such protocols. The study is significant in nursing as it focuses on how knowledge of hand hygiene protocols and HCWs’ attitudes towards such protocols can influence how the HCWs comply to the protocols. The study also identifies the importance of regular training on the protocols, which can improve compliance. The study did not employ specific research questions. It, however, used a hygiene knowledge questionnaire that included 19 true-false statements about the five moments of hand hygiene.