The purpose of this study was to compare the execution and verify the compliance with the handwashing techniques by students in an undergraduate Nursing course. The study was performed with 113 students enrolled in internship programs in healthcare institutions in the city of São Paulo. Data collection occurred through direct observation, using a check-list instrument with the steps of the technique. Students in their 2nd and 3rd year had better results in most steps of the technique, with a statistically significant difference when compared to the 4th year. Compliance with the steps of the technique by the students was very low, since their compliance with half the handwashing steps was lower than 50%. The average amount of students who executed all the steps of the technique correctly was very low, 8.8%. The observed students did not execute the handwashing techniques according to the recommendations.
Handwashing; Infection control; Education, nursing
