Background:

The most common route of infection in health care is contact transmission via hands. In order to kill microorganisms and cut off transmission routes, it is important to adhere to proper hand hygiene guidelines.

Aim:

To examine health professionals' adherence to hand hygiene practices, factors that influence them and their consequences.

Method:

A literature review was used with quantitative and qualitative studies.

Results:

Our results are based on a compilation of seven analyzed articles. The combined results show that the nurses' lack of hand hygiene affected several factors. These factors are the application of hand hygiene practices, the use of gloves, the availability of resources, knowledge, education, and economic aspects. Lack of adherence to established hand hygiene guidelines affect patients extensively and can lead to nosocomial infections.

Conclusion:

The results demonstrate that availability is important for the adherence to hand hygiene practices. Work experience, training and working conditions are all important factors that affect the outcome of said hand hygiene guidelines