Behavior of using protective equipment during the treatment, care and movement of COVID-19 patients of medical staff in some hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in 2020

Abstract

A descriptive cross - sectional study was carried out at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hospital of University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, and Trung Vuong Hospital from June to December 2020. This study aims to describe behavior of using protective equipment (masks, splash goggles, hand sanitizers), and protective clothing), of healthcare workers during the treatment, care and movement of COVID-19 infected/ suspected patients and the reasons that affect these behaviors. The results could make recommendations to protect health workers from infection from protective equipment to the environment. Research results show that, before and after using protective equipment, health workers hardly use any sterilization measures for protective equipment such as medical masks, N95/N99 masks, and visors droplets. After removing these devices, they almost wash their hands with an antiseptic solution. Most hospitals have adopted the proper procedure of removing protective clothing. From these results, hospitals need to have improvement plans and support measures to help health workers comply with infection control procedures and contribute to minimizing exposure when caring for patients.