Evaluating the impact of pluridisciplinary training on proper glove use in hospital

The authors of this randomized study had for aim to evaluate the impact of training on proper glove use by comparing compliance to glove use recommendations between trained and untrained healthcare personnel according to healthcare professional groups.

A random selection of trained and untrained nurses, nurse aids, and hospital housekeepers was performed in a French University hospital, using a listing of healthcare personnel. The audits were conducted by two infection control nurses, in series of 10 observations, with a maximum time limit of two hours. The evaluation criteria were compliance or non-compliance of glove-wearing practices with internal hospital recommendations, disclosed to professionals during training.

Overall, 111 professionals were audited and 794 acts were observed. Hand hygiene was significantly better in trained vs. untrained healthcare professionals (P < 0.01). Proper glove use practices were similar between trained and untrained nurses (85% of compliance), whereas the difference was statistically significant in favor of trained healthcare personnel for the other categories (P < 0.001 for nurse aids and P = 0.02 for housekeepers).

We demonstrated the impact of pluridisciplinary training on proper glove use practices in hospital settings, but with different benefits found according to professional groups. The lower the initial training level, the greater the overall benefit appeared to be.