[Hygiene in intensive care units in Frankfurt am Main, Germany]

: The German Commission on Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention has published several recommendations regarding hygiene in the intensive care unit. Compliance with these recommendations was surveyed.

In 2005 and 2011, the intensive care units of all hospitals in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, were examined by members of the public health department, using a checklist based on the respective recommendations.

Recommendations on the architecture and function of intensive care wards were almost fully complied with, except for the stipulated amount of space and nursing personnel. Compliance with recommendations for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia and for prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections was excellent, with only some minor exceptions. Regarding hand hygiene, in 2011 fewer faults were documented than in 2005. All hospitals took part in the German project of the world-wide campaign "clean care is safer care." In 2005, device-associated infections were surveyed in 92% intensive care units, and in 2011 in all of them. By 2011, screening of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus had been established in all intensive care units.

Most problems that were observed regarded a scarcity of space and of facilities for isolation of patients and of nursing personnel. Improvements were seen in hand hygiene and in screening for multidrug resistant organisms (MDRO).