Hand Hygiene Auditing: Is It a Roadway to Improve Adherence to Hand Hygiene Among Hospital Personnel?

Abstract

Background Over the years, there has been an increase in hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) among patients in India. One of the main reasons is a lack of compliance with infection control guidelines, such as hand hygiene. So the present study was conducted to determine the compliance of hand hygiene among healthcare workers in a private tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. Materials and methods The prospective observational study was carried out between April 2017 and March 2020. Nineteen areas were directly observed for hand hygiene (HH) compliance. At each location, HH audit was conducted for one hour per day for five days per month. HH complete adherence rate (HHCAR) and HH partial adherence rate (HHPAR) were analyzed. Results Nine hundred and twenty observation periods were completed during the entire study period. Overall, hand hygiene complete adherence rate was 29.9% (11,981/39,998); partial adherence rate was 45.3% (18,131/39,998) and the non-adherence rate was 24.7% (9886/39,998). A better adherence rate was seen among nurses (44.7%), followed by other staff (33.7%) and doctors (33.04%). Moment-specific adherence rates show almost equal adherence rates of 50.7%, 50.75%, and 50.1%, respectively, for moments 2, 3, and 4, and comparatively low for moments 1 and 5 (48.4% and 47.6%, respectively). Conclusion Despite adequate hand hygiene facilities, compliance remains low. Hand hygiene is a bundle care approach that needs to consider factors including healthcare staff, clinical, institutional, environmental, and behavioral changes. Multimodal interventions and multidisciplinary commitment are mandatory for sustained compliance.

Compliance with the five moments for hand hygiene of healthcare workers in a pediatric hospital. A prospective observational study

“…Similar results were reported in a study that found that during the pandemic period, HCWs compliance with HH improved as a way of self-protection (25). Considering health personnel, the highest compliance with HH was observed in nurses, as in other studies (21,26). Nurses demonstrated greater adherence to HH guidelines than pediatric residents; however, there were no differences compared to pediatricians.…”

Research agenda for transmission prevention within the Veterans Health Administration, 2024–2028

“…Chong (2021) 60 Mazi (2021) 61 Ganesan (2022) 62 Existing hand hygiene preparations are short-acting and must be reapplied before and after each opportunity. Further testing of new long-acting hand hygiene preparations is needed.…”

Behavioral determinants of hand hygiene compliance among nurses in intensive care units in Hai’l, Saudi Arabia

“…Deep and unconscious habits drive HH behavior and are, therefore, difficult to change (de Wandel, 2017). Commitment to HH practices can be poor, even with the availability of high-quality infrastructure and resources (Ganesan et al, 2022). Neither knowledge nor reasoning about the impact on patient safety is a predictor of HHC (de Wandel et al, 2010;Huis et al, 2012).…”