Study: Nurses, doctors put their own safety above patients’

Health care providers aren’t any better than the general public when it comes to hand-hygiene, according to the latest research.

A new report indicates that nurses followed appropriate guidelines for hand washing before and after surgical procedures only 34% of the time.

Doctors fared little better. The study showed that doctors complied with hand washing procedures 72% of the time after procedures — but only 42% of the time before a procedure. The researchers theorized the discrepancy could indicate less concern for patients’ safety and more concern for the practitioner’s own health.

The report was published in Applied Nursing Research.