Objectives: The objective of the study was getting to know the knowledge and attitudes towards hand hygiene (HH) among Polish patients and healthcare workers (HCWs).
Methods: 459 respondents replied to the survey: 173 (37.6%) patients and 286 (62.3%) HCWs; 57 HCWs were additionally interviewed.
Results: Few HCWs knew and used the "5 moments for HH" in the required situations. Both patients and HCWs rated HH of other HCWs poorly: only 75% of patients and 54% of HCWs noticed the application of HH before blood sample collection, but 1/2 of interviewed HCWs did not encounter a request for HH from a patient. According to interviews, 23 (40%) HCWs did not admonish others when they did not use HH. Seventy-five percent of patients and HCWs claimed that, in the past, in schools the toilets were poorly stocked, but the situation improved with the passage of time.
Conclusions: There are barriers with resspect to treating patients as partners in HH in Polish hospitals and HCWs' lack of compliance with the "5 moments for HH" significantly reduces patients' safety.
Practice implications: Education regarding HH should be conducted for the whole society from an early age: lack of proper supplies in school bathrooms impedes the development of positive HH habits.
Keywords: hand hygiene; healthcare workers; healthcare-associated infections; patient.