Many studies report low compliance with handwashing in health care settings, even if it is considered an important factor to reduce cross transmission.
Methods: Observational study in University Hospital with external observers.
Results: The observers recorded 1262 opportunities for handwashing among 49 nurses. The average of the opportunities was 8,8 handwashing/hour (d.s. +/- 5.05, range 0 divided by 23). The compliance was 19,3%. Compliance was higher in intensive care unit (25,6 %) than in medical ward (18,1 %) and surgical ward (13,9 %). There were no difference between males (19 %) and females (19.4%). Compliance with handwashing was significantly better in post procedure (34%) than in pre procedure (10.6%) and was worst when the workload was higher.
Conclusions: The study confirms the low adhesion to handwashing international recommendations and suggests to adopt "ad hoc" educational programs and suitable structural/operative conditions.