Abstract
Proper hand hygiene is crucial for preventing,, infections in intensive care units (ICUs) and neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Despite the awareness among healthcare personnel and visitors of its importance, compliance with regulations is often inadequate. Advanced nurse educators and infection control professionals can significantly improve these habits. This review investigates whether advanced nursing positions improve hand hygiene among ICU and NICU families, as well as visitors, focusing on enhancing hand hygiene programs, identifying effective solutions, recognising practice shortcomings, and providing recommendations. The methodology involved a search of databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Google Scholar, using relevant keywords related to hand hygiene and advanced nursing roles. The analysis included research on visitor hand hygiene in ICUs and NICUs, specifically focusing on advanced nursing responsibilities. Only articles published in English were selected. Out of the initial 1,430 articles, 36 met the inclusion criteria. The study found that advanced nurse roles had a positive effect on hand hygiene adherence in the ICU and NICU. Effective strategies included educational programs, proactive engagement, and regular follow-up. Challenges, such as nurse workloads, were also identified. Continuous training, family involvement, and infection control programs were highlighted as important for improving hand hygiene behaviours. Through structured programmes and education, as well as advanced nursing roles, nurses can significantly lower infection rates and improve patient outcomes. To improve hand hygiene in critical care, comprehensive interventions, and strong leadership should be prioritised.
Notes
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which permits you to copy, redistribute, and adapt this material for non-commercial purposes, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original creator and license any new creations under the same or a compatible license. The license is attached to this item record.
Original Citation: Bakar, S. A. A., Aung, K. T., & Abdullah, S. (2025). Enhancing hand hygiene compliance among ICU and Nicu Visitor Families: The impact of advanced nursing roles, the barriers and challenges: A Review. Asian Journal of Medicine & Health Sciences, 8(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.70672/9ty9ej97
No changes have been made to this article.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Article
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Literature Review
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Advanced Nursing Roles, Hand Hygiene Compliance, ICU, NICU, Infection Control, Visitor Education
Recommended Citation
Bakar, Siti Azuna Abu; Aung, Khin Thandar; and Abdullah, Sahrom, "Enhancing Hand Hygiene Compliance among ICU and NICU Visitor Families: The Impact of Advanced Nursing Roles, the Barriers and Challenges: A Review" (2025). Individual Articles. 33.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/individual_articles/33
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Publisher
UniKL Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL RCMP) Managed by P.C.M. SDN. BHD
Version
Publisher's Version
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
External Review: Previously Published Material
Acquisition
Indexed Previously Published Material (Per Creative Commons License)
Date of Issue
2025-10-28
Full Text of Presentation
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