ObjectiveTo investigate the hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers(HCWs) in hospitals in Yichang, and evaluate the approach to improve hand hygiene compliance.MethodsQuestionnaires of hand hygiene compliance were filled out by HCWs at 37 hospitals.ResultsA total of 238 HCWs were surveyed, the overall hand hygiene compliance rate was 32.38%(125/386), and the rates varied significantly with the kinds of the hospitals as below: 46.81% in tertiary, 53.19% in secondary, 23.53% in private, 7.69% in township, and 17.95% in primary, hand hygiene compliance rate was significantly different among all hospitals(P<0.05). Of 6 time points for hand hygiene (before contact with patients, before aseptic procedure, after body fluid exposure, after contact with patients, after contact with environmental surface in the vicinity of patients, and after glove removal), hand hygiene compliance rates before aseptic procedure and after removing gloves were the highest, which was 89.58%(43/48) and 80.49%(33/41) respectively. Nurses’ hand hygiene compliance rate was 54.82%(74/135), which was significantly higher than in the other groups (P<0.01); of all departments, hand hygiene compliance rate of HCWs in obstetrics and gynecology was 83.78%(31/37), which was significantly higher than in the other departments (P<0.01). Of all hospitals, 18.92% equipped with nontouch taps and 43.24% equipped with handdrying facilities. After washing, 39.76% (33/83) HCWs used tissue or handdrying facilities, 13.25%(11/83) dried hands naturally, and 46.99%(39/83) wiped hands with their uniforms. The major factors influencing the hand hygiene compliance were heavy workload (42.86%), insufficient attention (38.24%) and hand hygiene facilities(36.56%).ConclusionThe overall hand hygiene compliance rate in Yichang is low, hand hygiene compliance need to be improved.