High nursing workload is a main associated factor of poor hand hygiene adherence in Beijing, China: An observational study

摘要

Abstract Aim The aim of the study was to explore the impact of nurse workloads on adherence to hand hygiene. Background Adherence to hand hygiene and nursing workloads have been linked to quality of patient care. Therefore, it was important to understand the relationship to safe patient care. Design This cross‐sectional study was performed from January 2016 to June 2016. Methods Workloads and adherence to hand hygiene for nurses on 3‐day shifts in a tertiary hospital were investigated in 2016. Actual hours worked per shift were timed using a stopwatch to assess nursing workloads. Descriptive and inferential statistics and multiple variable regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results Sixty‐four nurses from four wards were observed. The average adherence rate of hand hygiene was 26.6% and the average nursing workload per shift was 6.7?hours. Multiple regression revealed that nursing workload was negatively related to adherence rate of hand hygiene. Conclusion Nurses in this study that had a low rate of adherence with hand hygiene frequently had high workloads. Adherence to hand hygiene was independently associated with actual hours worked per shift.