ObjectiveTo compare the effects of povidone iodine handwashing with brush and brush-free handwashing on the hand skin condition of nurses in operation room. MethodA random sampling method was used to choose 150 nurses from the operation room of a grade-3 class-A hospital as our study subjects from June 2013 to December 2014. They were randomly divided into control group and study group according to the random number table with 75 in each. The control group used the traditional povidone iodine handwashing with brush, while the study group applied brush-free handwashing method. Then, we compared the hand skin condition and disinfection effect of these two kinds of handwashing methods. ResultsThe control group had dry skin in 34 nurses (45.3%), dry desquamation in 9 (12.0%), tight feeling in 51 (68.0%), and allergy in 5 (6.7%). The study group had dry skin in 19 nurses (25.3%), dry desquamation in 0 (0.0%), tension in 21 (28.0%), and allergy in 0 (0.0%). The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). ConclusionsThe brush-free handwashing method is able to achieve the requirements of surgical hand disinfection, and can protect the skin of nurses in operation room.