Patient hand hygiene practices in surgical patients

Area of Science:

• Healthcare-associated infections
• Patient safety
• Surgical care

Background:

• Limited research exists on surgical patients' hand hygiene practices.
• Patient hand hygiene may play a role in surgical site infections (SSIs).
• Focus has predominantly been on healthcare worker hygiene.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine patient and nurse perceptions and knowledge of patient hand hygiene.
• To assess the frequency of nursing staff assistance with patient hand hygiene.
• To evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on patient hand hygiene assistance.

Main Methods:

• Quasiexperimental, pretest/post-test study design.
• Interviews conducted with surgical patients (n=72) and nurses (n=42).
• Direct observations of nursing staff assisting patients with hand hygiene pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Over half of patients reported not being offered hand hygiene opportunities.
• A majority of nurses reported offering hand hygiene opportunities.
• Nursing staff assistance increased significantly post-intervention (17.3% to 44.6%).

Conclusions:

• Patient hand hygiene is an area requiring focused improvement.
• Educational interventions can enhance nursing staff support for patient hygiene.
• Future efforts should target both patients and healthcare workers to improve hand hygiene.