Healthcare Professionals’ Adherence to Contact Precautions at a Maternal and Child Teaching Hospital

Background: Healthcare-associated infections affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. Children have greater susceptibility to healthcare-associated infections due to the immaturity of their immune system. Contact precautions aim to promote safety, protection and prevention of contamination. Thus, the objective of this study was to verify adherence to contact precaution measures, as well as compliance to the use of personal protective equipment. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was carried out from July to October 2019 using a checklist to evaluate health professionals’ adherence to hand hygiene procedures and the use of gloves and surgical gowns when assisting children on contact precautions. Results: A total of 941 observations were carried out in a total of 300.532 hours. Hand hygiene was performed before and after contact with the patient in 58.84% and 75.09% of the cases, respectively and a surgical gown was used in 86.40% of the cases. The use of gloves was the variable most adhered to by professionals (87.57%). Intensive care unit professionals were the care workers who most complied with the regulation regarding hand hygiene after contact with the patient (p = 0.009) and the use of the surgical gown (p < 0.001). The correct hand hygiene technique was the recommendation with least adherence. Non-compliance to the hand hygiene technique was statistically significant among intensive care unit professionals (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Adherence to hand hygiene before contact with the patient and compliance with the hand hygiene technique were neglected by most professionals. However, there was good adherence to the use of surgical gloves and gowns, as well as high compliance to the techniques of removing these items.