ObjectiveTo investigate the hand hygiene status of nursing staff in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) isolation ward, find out the difficulties and problems in hand hygiene implementation, and then put forward scientific and feasible suggestions to improve the compliance of hand hygiene.MethodsSelf-designed Questionnaire on Hand Hygiene Status of Nursing Staff in COVID-19 Isolation Ward was distributed through the Wenjuanxing, a platform to collect data. The questionnaire, which included general information, knowledge related to hand hygiene, and the status of hand hygiene in isolation ward, was distributed to the nurses working in isolation wards in Wuhan, Hubei Province from March 15th, 2020 to March 22nd, 2020.ResultsValid questionnaires were collected from 492 nurses. The difficulty in performing hand hygiene in the isolation ward was ranked ≥level 3 by 248 nurses (50.41%), the degree of which was divided into 10 levels (level 1 was no difficulty, level 10 was the most difficult). A total of 369 participants (75.00%) thought that wearing gloves for hand disinfection would damage the gloves. There were 161 participants who thought that gloves should be changed every 2 hours, accounting for the largest proportion (32.72%); while 226 participants actually changed gloves every 4 hours, accounting for the largest proportion (45.93%).ConclusionsThe difficulty of performing hand hygiene in isolation ward should be paid attention to. It is recommended to carry out further research on the replacement time of gloves.
Objective To understand the current situation of the use and cognition of personal protective equipment (PPE) by healthcare workers in the isolation wards (rooms) during the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, and provide data support for the country to further optimize the configuration of PPE and carry out more targeted training and supervision. Methods In March 2020, healthcare workers in isolation wards (rooms) in provinces and cities in the country were investigated by filling in a questionnaire about the use of different levels of PPE. Results A total of 6 859 questionnaires were collected from 29 provinces and cities, containing 5 935 valid questionnaires (86.53%). Among them, there were 448 assisting-Hubei medical team members and 5 487 non-assisting-Hubei healthcare workers. The actual use rate (74.22%) and intended use rate (73.14%) of surgical masks in the cleaning areas were the highest. The actual use rate and intended use rate of working caps in potentially contaminated areas and contaminated areas were higher than 90%. There were various combinations of protective articles, and there were significant differences between actual use and intention (P<0.05). Except for the boot covers (single layer) in the cleaning areas, the working caps, isolation clothing and boot covers (double layer) in the potential pollution areas, and the protective face screens, working caps, three-layer shoe covers and single/double/three-layer boot covers in the pollution areas-splashing operations (P>0.05), the actual utilization rates of protective articles of the assisting-Hubei medical team members were generally higher than those of the non-assisting-Hubei healthcare workers (P<0.05). Conclusions The instructions for the use of PPE in different areas and operations should be further refined, and standardized training should be increased. The phenomenon of non-standard use of protective equipment should be reduced, and a safety barrier should be provided to the healthcare workers.