Recognising the psychosocial issues involved in hand hygiene

Abstract

Non-adherence to hand hygiene among those involved in the provision of health care is the principal route by which infection is spread. However, despite an extensive research base, regular education and the application of prescriptive rules there has been a consistent failure to achieve long-term adherence in appropriate hand hygiene practice. Where improved adherence has been achieved there has been little evidence to show that it was for anything other than a limited period with individuals ultimately reverting back to their original practice. This paper therefore proposes that the principal cause of non-adherence to safe hand hygiene practice among those involved in the provision of health care is psychosocial in its nature. Further, until strategies are developed that will reflect this, the well-being of individuals seeking health care intervention will continue to be compromised.

Effectiveness of Hand Hygiene Education in a Basic Nursing School Curricula

“…Hand hygiene (HH) remains the most effective tool to prevent the spread of hospital‐acquired infection (HAI) in clinical practice (Hass & Larson, ; Department of Health, ; Elliott, ; Pratt, Pellowe, & Loveday, ). The history of HH research and practice dates back to the 1840s when Ignacz Semmelweis introduced hand washing standards after discovering that the occurrence of puerperal fever could be prevented by practicing hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics.…”

“…In effect, pregraduate education of the health care professionals combined with the long‐term continual educational interventions aimed at invoking changes in attitudes toward HH standards in clinical practice plays a key role in improving HH compliance (Pittet, , ). However, the available research shows that the basic nursing education does not always fully meet the expectations determined by the clinical practice requirements (Elliott, ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ; Ferrer et al., ; Cole, ). A large number of highly specific issues have to be covered in the school curricula in the basic nursing education programs, and thus it is possible that HH has gotten less attention.…”

Sykepleierstudenters erfaringer med etterlevelse av håndhygieniske prinsipper i kliniske praksisstudier

“…Sykepleiere som har liten Sykepleierstudenters erfaringer med etterlevelse av håndhygieniske prinsipper i kliniske praksisstudier 9 forståelse for viktigheten av håndhygiene, utsetter seg selv og andre for helserisiko (Allegranzi & Pittet, 2009, WHO, 2009a, WHO, 2009b, WHO, 2011. Manglende refleksjon over egen praksis (Sharif & Masoumi, 2009) som synliggjør manglende risikovurderinger, men også forsvarer, tolererer og rettferdiggjør brudd på sine håndhygienehandlinger (Elliott, 2003), vil også representere en helserisiko.…”

The role and utilisation of public health evaluations in Europe: a case study of national hand hygiene campaigns

“…This publicly-available and ready-to-use rapid evaluation framework aims at facilitating the evaluation processes for hand hygiene campaigns. This is particularly important as hand hygiene interventions solicit behaviour change, thus addressing the complex interaction psychosocial, behavioural and religious factors which drive hand hygiene behaviours [9,10]. These psychosocial components have been found to affect outcomes in different environments [11-13], and the sustainability of achieved results [8,14] rendering evaluations for hand hygiene campaigns even more necessary.…”