Personal hygiene and safety of governmental hospital staff in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran

Complying with infection control standards is essential to prevent nosocomial infections. We aimed to determine health workers' hygiene practices and compliance with recommended instructions for personal hygiene among staff in all 30 hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The results showed that physicians and nurses were less compliant with personal hygiene practices than cleaners. Availability of protective measures was better in teaching hospitals than non-teaching hospitals as were vaccination rates among staff [hepatitis B and tetanus/ diphtheria] with physicians scoring highest. Measures are needed to improve health workers' compliance