HAND HYGIENE BY HEALTH CARE PATIENT ESCORTS: LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: Review the specialized scientific literature regarding Hand Hygiene (HH) of caregivers of patients receiving some type of health service. Methodology: It is an integrative literature review, accomplished through active search in databases SciELO, Google Schoolar and Periódicos CAPES, under the descriptors in portuguese and english: ‘acompanhantes de pacientes’ and ‘higiene das mãos’, and ‘patient’s escorts’ and ‘hand hygiene’, using descriptors cataloged in DeCS. Results: It was found that the literature focuses on situations in which patients belong to pediatrics, due to the relative ease in finding texts that deal with parental instruction about HH. However, there were difficulties in achieving results involving adult and/or elderly patients. Conclusion: More research is needed to study the habit of HH by caregivers of patients. The scarcity of works related to the theme, specifically with regard to caregivers of adult and/or elderly patients, shows the omission of preparation of the body of health professionals to pay attention to such a crucial part for the prevention of HCI.