Next Article in Journal
Associated Factors for Bacterial Colonization in Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases
Previous Article in Journal
The Key Role of the Ophthalmologist in Diagnosing Botulism: Two Case Reports
 
 
GERMS is published by MDPI from Volume 25 Issue 4 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with the former publisher Infection Science Forum S.R.L..
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Communication

Visitor Behavior During Hospital Inpatient Visitation

by
Gulsum Iclal Bayhan
1,2,*,
Rukiye Can
3,
Sinem Elçi
3,
Fatma Kamiş
3,
Kaan Saritaş
3,
Sümeyye Yetim
3,
Zeynep Ömerbeyoğlu
3,
Hacer Su Haciibrahimoğlu
3,
Aysuna Galandarova
3,
Ezgi Ruken Demir
3,
Merve Can
3 and
İlayda Meletli
3
1
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Yenimahalle Training and Educational Hospital, Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey
2
Ankara City Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Üniversiteler Mahallesi, 06800 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
3
Faculty of Medicine, Yildirim Beyazit University, Üniversiteler Mahallesi, 06800 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
GERMS 2022, 12(4), 554-560; https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1360
Submission received: 2 May 2022 / Revised: 22 October 2022 / Accepted: 31 December 2022 / Published: 31 December 2022

Abstract

Introduction The common target audience of the current guidelines for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections is represented by healthcare workers. Behavioral protocols for visitors and caregivers that aim to prevent healthcare-associated infections are still not available. The aim of this study was to determine the behavior of the visitors and to determine possible behavior that would contribute to the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms, in order to provide suggestions for visitors in the post-pandemic period. Methods A survey about visitor behavior was administered to 621 visitors. The survey consisted of questions regarding the demographic features and the behavior of the patient visitors. Results Seventy-seven visitors (12.4%) had at least one infection-related symptoms. Overall, 426 (68.6%) visitors stated that they would cancel their visit if they had any infection-related symptoms. The location of the hand washbasin to wash or sanitize the hands at the patient’s unit was not known by 142 (22.9%) visitors. The number of visitors performing all hand hygiene steps was 351 (56.5%). Compliance with hand hygiene was not affected by age, gender, living in the same house as the visited patient, or visiting an adult or pediatric patient. Conclusions The visitors should be queried about symptoms of infectious disease at the entrance of the hospital. The knowledge level of the visitors about hand hygiene is not sufficient. Clear recommendations about when and how often visitors should practice hand hygiene and providing information at the entrance of the hospital will improve the hand hygiene compliance of the visitors.
Keywords: healthcare-associated infections; healthcare workers; visitor; caregiver; hand hygiene; respiratory etiquette healthcare-associated infections; healthcare workers; visitor; caregiver; hand hygiene; respiratory etiquette

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Bayhan, G.I.; Can, R.; Elçi, S.; Kamiş, F.; Saritaş, K.; Yetim, S.; Ömerbeyoğlu, Z.; Haciibrahimoğlu, H.S.; Galandarova, A.; Demir, E.R.; et al. Visitor Behavior During Hospital Inpatient Visitation. GERMS 2022, 12, 554-560. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1360

AMA Style

Bayhan GI, Can R, Elçi S, Kamiş F, Saritaş K, Yetim S, Ömerbeyoğlu Z, Haciibrahimoğlu HS, Galandarova A, Demir ER, et al. Visitor Behavior During Hospital Inpatient Visitation. GERMS. 2022; 12(4):554-560. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1360

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bayhan, Gulsum Iclal, Rukiye Can, Sinem Elçi, Fatma Kamiş, Kaan Saritaş, Sümeyye Yetim, Zeynep Ömerbeyoğlu, Hacer Su Haciibrahimoğlu, Aysuna Galandarova, Ezgi Ruken Demir, and et al. 2022. "Visitor Behavior During Hospital Inpatient Visitation" GERMS 12, no. 4: 554-560. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1360

APA Style

Bayhan, G. I., Can, R., Elçi, S., Kamiş, F., Saritaş, K., Yetim, S., Ömerbeyoğlu, Z., Haciibrahimoğlu, H. S., Galandarova, A., Demir, E. R., Can, M., & Meletli, I. (2022). Visitor Behavior During Hospital Inpatient Visitation. GERMS, 12(4), 554-560. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1360

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop