Analysis of the relationship between fear of coronavirus and hand hygiene beliefs and practices of surgical nurses: A descriptive and cross‐sectional study.

Aim: This study aimed to analyse the relationship between fear of COVID‐19 and hand hygiene beliefs and practices of surgical nurses. Method: This article is a descriptive correlational study. It was conducted between February and May 2021 with 306 surgical nurses working at public and private hospitals in Northern Cyprus. A personal information form, Fear of COVID‐19 Scale, Hand Hygiene Belief Scale and Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory were used for data collection. Results: Of the participants in the study, 25.41% were 29 years old or younger and 85.15% were female. The mean scores obtained from the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale, Hand Hygiene Belief Scale and the Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory were 23.12 ± 8.03, 81.33 ± 7.67 and 69.15 ± 1.94, respectively. The Fear of COVID‐19 Scale scores were negatively correlated with the Hand Hygiene Belief Scale scores and positively correlated with the Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory scores. Conclusion: Hand hygiene practices were better for nurses with higher level of COVID‐19 fear. Therefore, a high level of seriousness and awareness of nurses about hand hygiene, which was achieved during the COVID‐19 pandemic, should be sustained to maintain proper hand hygiene practices. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Hand hygiene is one of the primary ways to control the COVID‐19 pandemic.Adherence to hand hygiene may be influenced by various factors, including personal traits.Hand hygiene adherence among health professionals was low prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic. What this paper adds? The Fear of COVID‐19 Scale scores of surgical nurses were above average.This study found that the fear of COVID‐19 was positively linked to hand hygiene practices of surgical nurses. The implications of this paper: Seriousness and awareness of nurses about hand hygiene during the COVID‐19 pandemic should be sustained in order to maintain good hand hygiene practices.Visual and printed education materials may emphasize disease and mortality rates during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Health institutions have the responsibility to provide appropriate antiseptic products to prevent hand skin problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]