ORIGINAL PAPER
Work experience and seniority in health care vs. medical students’ knowledge of selected hand hygiene procedures
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Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego / Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
(Wydział Lekarski, Katedra Mikrobiologii / Faculty of Medicine, Chair of Microbiology)
Corresponding author
Anna Różańska
Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego,
Wydział Lekarski, Katedra Mikrobiologii, ul. Czysta 18, 31-121 Kraków
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2016;67(5):623-33
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ABSTRACT
Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is the most important element of infection prevention. The aim of the study was to analyze
the level of HH knowledge among medical students of Jagiellonian University Medical College in correlation with their clinical
experience and the presence and extent of trainings in hospital hygiene prior to internships, as well as with HH practice
among medical staff perceived by students. Material and Methods: The study was carried out in a group of 414 students from
October to December, 2014. The questionnaire built of 14 questions was used as a study tool. Results: Absolutely correct answers
to questions about HH were given by 52.9%, and about HH technique by 6.5% of respondents. The degree of accuracy of
answers to questions concerning HH did not correlate with the gender of the respondents or with the fact that work placement
had been preceded by training in the field of HH or with its scope. A statistically significant correlation was found between
the year, the field, and the type of the study. Students with greater professional practice, significantly less often claimed that
medical workers comply with HH. Professional practice of 22.9% of students was not preceded by any training in the field of
hospital hygiene and in 28% of cases training did not cover HH. Nearly half of the respondents declared that pre-internship
training had not addressed the problem of occupational exposure to biological agents. Conclusions: The results of the study
shows that knowledge gained by students participating in the study was not satisfactory. Moreover, there is a need for improving
the educational scheme in the discussed subject at all levels of basic and clinical subjects as well as during internships.
Med Pr 2016;67(5):623–633