Hand hygiene is the best method of preventing transmission of infections in health
care, but compliance is usually suboptimal. In one hospital, compliance with hand
hygiene was improved and sustained using a multifaceted bundle approach. A unique
aspect of the bundle was the creation of a violation letter that was sent to and enforced
by managers of noncompliant personnel. The letter appeared to be the major factor
in raising the hand hygiene compliance rate from 34% to >90% in a 2-year period.
Key Words
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References
- Guidelines for hand hygiene in health-care settings: recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force.Morb Mortal Recomm Rep. 2002; 51(RR-16): 22-24
- An organizational climate intervention associated with increased handwashing and decreased nosocomial infection.Behav Med. 2000; 26: 14-22
- Effectiveness of a hospital-wide program to improve compliance with hand hygiene.Lancet. 2000; 356: 1307-1312
- Three successful interventions in healthcare workers that improve compliance with hand hygiene: is sustained replication possible?.Am J Infect Control. 2008; 36: 349-355
- An integrative review of the current evidence on the relationship between hand hygiene interventions and the incidence of health care‒associated infections.Am J Infect Control. 2008; 36: 333-348
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: April 26, 2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
