Practically speaking: rethinking hand hygiene improvement programs in health care settings

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Infection prevention and control
• Public health

Background:

• Hand hygiene is crucial for reducing healthcare-associated infections.
• Hospitals require robust hand hygiene programs but lack resources for long-term success.
• Sustainable strategies for improving staff compliance are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel approach to measuring and increasing hand hygiene compliance.
• To provide practical strategies for developing or improving hospital hand hygiene programs.
• To share a successful, sustainable model for institutional hand hygiene.

Main Methods:

• Overhauled hand hygiene approach starting in 2008 with multidisciplinary teams.
• Utilized World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and "5 moments for hand hygiene."
• Developed unit-specific workflows and peer-to-peer data collection.

Main Results:

• Institutional hand hygiene compliance increased from 60%-70% to 97% post-implementation.
• High compliance levels have been sustained since 2008.
• Program expansion included ambulatory facilities and regional sites.

Conclusions:

• The described approach offers a practical model for enhancing hand hygiene compliance.
• This novel strategy effectively addresses challenges in establishing sustainable hand hygiene programs.
• The findings aim to guide other institutions in improving their infection prevention efforts.