RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-REPORTED HAND HYGIENE BELIEFS AND HAND HYGIENE PRACTICES IN NURSING STUDENTS: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING

Hand hygiene practice is very important in preventing health-related infections. It is reported that hand hygiene belief is an important indicator for hand hygiene practice. Determining the relationship between hand hygiene practice and hand hygiene beliefs is extremely important to increase hand hygiene compliance. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between self-reported hand hygiene beliefs and hand hygiene practices in nursing students. This study used a predictive correlational design and conducted at a nursing department of a state university in Turkey. A total of 305 nursing students who were selected by convenience sampling, had received at least one year of nursing education and had clinical practice experience were surveyed. The data were collected by a sociodemographic data collection form, the "Hand Hygiene Beliefs Scale" and the "Hand Hygiene Practice Inventory". Frequency analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, correlation analysis and structural equation modelling were used in data analysis. The total mean scores of the students in the Hand Hygiene Beliefs Scale and the Hand Hygiene Practice Inventory were 92.53±7.58 and 65.36±4.92, respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between hand hygiene beliefs and practices (r =.42; p