Skin condition and hand hygiene practices of Health Care Workers in Australia and New Zealand

The objective of this survey was to obtain information on the hand hygiene practices and hand skin condition among healthcare workers (HCW) in Australia and New Zealand. Participants in the survey were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their hand skin condition and hand hygiene practices. A total of 799 HCW from 29 healthcare facilities participated. Analysable data were obtained from 636 participants in 24 facilities in Australia and 163 participants in 5 facilities in New Zealand. Approximately three-quarters of the participants indicated that they experienced problems with dry/damaged hands within the last 12 months. Most of the participants reported using hand lotions and more than three quarters also had dry skin problems. The problem with dry/damaged skin was severe enough for 13.7% of the participants to seek medical treatment. The majority of the participants indicated that their facility provided lotion, however, nearly half of the participants also brought their own lotion to work. Participants who reported dry/damaged hands tended to use more hand lotion than those who did not report the condition.