The barriers and facilitators to hand hygiene practices in Nigeria: a qualitative study

Background: Healthcare associated infections are a global challenge and hand hygiene is the primary measure to reduce these. In developing countries, patients are between 2 and 20 times more likely to acquire an HCAI compared with developed countries. Estimates of hand hygiene in Sub-Saharan Africa suggests 21% concordance. There are few studies investigating barriers and facilitators and those published tend to be surveys.

Objective: To understand barriers and facilitators to hand hygiene in a hospital in Nigeria.

Methods: A theoretically underpinned in-depth qualitative interview study with thematic analysis of nurses and doctors working in surgical wards.

Results: There were individual and institutional factors constituting barriers or facilitators: i) knowledge, skills, and education, ii) perceived risks of infection to self and others, iii) memory, iv) the influence of others and v) skin irritation. Institutional factors were i) environment and resources and ii) workload and staffing levels.

Conclusions: Our study presents barriers and facilitators not previously reported and offers nuances and detail to those already reported in the literature. Although the primary recommendation is adequate resources, however small local changes such as gentle soap, simple skills and reminder posters and mentorship or support could address many of the barriers listed.