Hand Hygiene Article Collection
Spreading the handwashing message: An alternative to traditional media campaigns
Schools are a natural place from which to disseminate health messages to the community. Sending an entertaining handwashing video home with preschoolers as a component of a school-based program yielded impressive degrees of penetration and reach among families; consequently, this strategy offers a promising alternative to traditional media campaigns.Are short training sessions on hand hygiene effective in preventing hospital-acquired MRSA? A time-series analysis
We tested the impact of short hand hygiene training sessions and bed occupancy rates on the spread of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using a multivariate time-series analysis. According to our model, bed occupancy rates within general ward and intensive care unit settings correlated positively with the incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA, whereas alcohol-based hand rub use and MRSA showed a negative correlation. Furthermore, our model shows that 2 hand hygiene campaigns based on short training sessions effected a long-run reduction in the incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA.Evaluating the impact of a hand hygiene campaign on improving adherence
We monitored compliance with hand hygiene (HH) by direct observation in 3 hospitals in Cantabria, Spain before and after implementation of an HH informational campaign, separately analyzing the effect of a training program. We report that training plus an informational campaign doubled the probability of HH, whereas the informational campaign without training decreased adherence, acting as a deleterious factor in HH adherence.Return to Hand Hygiene: The Effectiveness of an Innovative Hand Hygiene Campaign
Saungi McCalla, MSN, MPH, RN,CIC, Director of Infection Control; Paul Quinn, MSN, CNM, RN-BC, NE-BC, CEN, CCRN, Clinical Nurse Specialist; Xiaohong Yu, M.Ed, RN; Clinical Information Coordinator, White Plains Hospital Center, White Plains, NY.Raising the Bar on Hand Hygiene Compliance: A Leadership Lead System-Wide Initiative
Judy Prescott, RN, BSN, CIC, Manager, Epidemiology; William Sutker, MD, Medical Director, Epidemiology; Cristie Columbus, MD, Asst. Medical Director; Irving Prengler, MD, Chief Medical Officer; Janette Brown, RN, BSN; Fidelina Valencia, RN, BSN; Allen Peden, RN; Connie Izzo, RN, Epidemiology Nurse, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TXClean Hands for Life™: Results of a Regional Hand Hygiene Campaign
Leslie A. Forrester, BA (Hons.), MA, MSc, Regional Hospital Epidemiologist, Vancouver Coastal Health, Powell River, BC Canada, Elizabeth A. Bryce, MD, Regional Medical Director, Anne K. Mediaa, BSc, Research Assistant, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC Canada.A Program for Monitoring Staff Hand Hygiene Activity at a Small Orthopaedic Pediatric Hospital
Helen S. Brom, RN, BSN, Infection Control/Employee Health Coordinator, Dori Henderson, PhD, Staff Development Coordinator, Shriners Hospitals for Children/Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN.Hand Hygiene Measurement
Marla Clifton, RN, MSN, CIC, Infection Control Practitioner, Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, OH.Multi-Tiered Approach to Hand Hygiene Compliance Monitoring
Susan Boeker, BSN, RN, CIC, Infection Control Practitioner, Connie Steed, RN, MSN, CIC, Director of Infection Control, William Kelly, MD, Hospital Epidemiologist, Karen Corwin, CPM, Purchasing Agent, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, SC.Hand Hygiene Stations: Building a Culture of Hand Hygiene in a Large Urban Teaching Facility
Judy Prescott, RN, BSN, CIC, Manager, Epidemiology, William Sutker, MD, Medical Director, Epidemiology, Cristie Columbus, MD, Assistant Medical Director, Epidemiology, Fidelina Valencia, RN, Epidemiology Nurse, Allen Peden, RN, Epidemiology Nurse, Connie Izzo, RN, Epidemiology Nurse, Janette Brown, RN, Epidemiology Nurse, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX.Increasing Employee Hand Hygiene Compliance: A Patient Safety Goal
ISSUE: In 2003 healthcare worker hand hygiene became a patient safety goal. In October 2003 the Greenwich Hospital/Yale New Haven Health System Quality Management selected employee compliance with hand hygiene as a quality core measure. Employee compliance with the hand hygiene guidelines was 58% at the start of the initiative. Employees were inconsistent with their hand hygiene practices, had unrealistic perceptions of hand hygiene compliance, failed to recognize the risk to the patient, and were unaware of the hand hygiene policy.Hand Hygiene: Staff-Driven Approach Leads to Success
ISSUE: Since Ignaz Semmelweis first demonstrated the effectiveness of hand hygiene in reducing instances of puerperal sepsis, hand hygiene has been the key concept in reducing the transmission of organisms. Despite the availability of hand sanitizers in the hallways and reminders by Infection Control personnel, compliance with hand hygiene at our institution was similar to trends of low hand hygiene compliance as reported nationally. PROJECT: In 2004, the Infection Control Department, in conjunction with Quality Management, initiated a hospital wide hand hygiene campaign, whose goal was to improve staff compliance with hand hygiene.Staff hand hygiene monitors: How do you get them done?
ISSUE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health Care Settings recommends monitoring adherence to hand hygiene and providing feedback to staff. We wanted to do this and determine accurate baseline compliance rates for all direct patient care areas but lacked infection control (IC) staffing to accomplish this goal. We also feared that results would be positively skewed if IC staff did the monitors. PROJECT: We utilized a high school student seeking healthcare-related work experience to conduct hand hygiene monitors in all direct patient care areas.
