The rescue of the culture of hand hygienization in health services in the pandemic context

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to identify, in the scientific literature, the strategies used by health services to influence the formation of a culture of patient safety through hand hygiene among health professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a descriptive study of an integrative literature review. An advanced search was performed in the databases that make up the Virtual Health Library (VHL), of the 700 scientific publications identified, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 publications were selected that made up the final sample of the study, as they were from according to the proposed theme. During the study analysis process, the following thematic categories were highlighted "Hand hygiene and its main public policies", "Nursing and the Covid-19 pandemic" and "Consequences of the breach of the hand hygiene protocol regarding safety of the patient". The studied literature showed that the consequences in relation to breaking the hand hygiene protocol regarding patient safety, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic, are worrisome because they affect both the patient's safety and the health professional's integrity. Furthermore, an increase in hospital stay and hospital costs, increased demand for the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and increased morbidity and mortality rates were also identified.