Knowledge and Compliance Levels Regarding Hand Hygiene Practices among Nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and compliance levels of hand hygiene among registered nurses at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Nassau, Bahamas.

METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June 2019. A 32-item self-administered questionnaire was provided to 40 registered nurses to assess their knowledge and compliance levels to hand hygiene practices.

RESULTS: All respondents were females. The results showed that 45% of the nurses had excellent knowledge, 27.5% had good knowledge on hand hygiene, while 27.5% had an average knowledge level. There was a statistically significant association between their knowledge level and their age, years of experience, length of time in the NICU and their level of education (p≤0.05). There was no statistically significant association between their compliance level and their socio-demographics (p≥0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Nurses’ knowledge levels were rated as good and so were their practice levels