| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 長期照護研究所 === 104 === Abstract
Hand hygiene is the simplest and most effective measure for preventing infections. Home care workers perform various care services with their hands. In order to avoid cross infection and even life-threatening conditions caused by poor hand hygiene, it is necessary to pay extra attention to hand hygiene behavior of home care workers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hand hygiene behavior and related factors of home care workers. Based on a cross-section research design and convenience sampling method, a questionnaire was administered to home care workers who met the sampling criteria in two home care institutions in Taipei City. The final sample consisted of 113 home care workers. The research instruments included a questionnaire on the basic attributes of home care workers, a questionnaire on environmental factors of home care services, a hand hygiene knowledge scale, a hand hygiene attitude scale, and a hand hygiene behavior scale. All the scales passed the test for validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS19.0.
The results were as follows: (1) The surveyed home care workers scored above the intermediate level on the scales of hand hygiene knowledge (mean=17.6; SD=1.67), hand hygiene attitude (mean=39.65; SD=3.18), and hand hygiene behavior (mean=157.16; SD=16.56). Among the five moments for hand hygiene, their hand hygiene behavior was lowest in the third moment “After body fluid exposure risk” (mean=30.33; SD=3.35). (2) Hand hygiene behavior was positively related to hand hygiene attitude (r=0.26, p<0.05). (3) In the hand hygiene behavior prediction model, “age” and “hand hygiene attitude” were important predictors. The model explained 20.0% of variances in hand hygiene behavior, with the largest variance explained by “hand hygiene attitude”. Further analysis of the explaining power of the prediction model in each moment for hand hygiene showed that the model had the highest explaining power in the second moment “Before an aseptic task”, explaining 31% of variances in hand hygiene behavior. Besides, “age” and “hand hygiene attitude” were significant predictors of hand hygiene behavior across all the five moments for hand hygiene.
Based on the findings, this study proposed the following suggestions. It is necessary to design diversified teaching strategies for home care workers in different age groups so as to meet their varying performances of hand hygiene behavior. In on-job training, the importance of hand hygiene should be extensively stressed along with the correct concepts of hand hygiene and handwashing methods to improve home care workers’ cognition of hand hygiene. Home care workers’ hand hygiene attitude can be improved through evaluation of handwashing techniques. In home care practices, it is advised to provide home care workers with handrubs containing 70% alcohol and glycerol as this kind of handrubs can improve skin comfort and are convenient to carry and use by home care workers. They can help prevent infection in patients and improve the quality of their home care services.
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