Status of the implementation of the World Health Organization multimodal hand hygiene strategy in United States of America health care facilities

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a multimodal strategy and campaign in 2009 to improve hand hygiene practices worldwide. Our objective was to evaluate the implementation of the strategy in United States health care facilities. Methods From July through December 2011, US facilities participating in the WHO global campaign were invited to complete the Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework online, a validated tool based on the WHO multimodal strategy. Results Of 2,238 invited facilities, 168 participated in the survey (7.5%). A detailed analysis of 129, mainly nonteaching public facilities (80.6%), showed that most had an advanced or intermediate level of hand hygiene implementation progress (48.9% and 45.0%, respectively). The total Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework score was 36 points higher for facilities with staffing levels of infection preventionists > 0.75/100 beds than for those with lower ratios (P = .01) and 41 points higher for facilities participating in hand hygiene campaigns (P = .002). Conclusion Despite the low response rate, the survey results are unique and allow interesting reflections. Whereas the level of progress of most participating facilities was encouraging, this may reflect reporting bias, ie, better hospitals more likely to report. However, even in respondents, further improvement can be achieved, in particular by embedding hand hygiene in a stronger institutional safety climate and optimizing staffing levels dedicated to infection prevention. These results should encourage the launch of a coordinated national campaign and higher participation in the WHO global campaign.

Improving healthcare worker hand hygiene adherence before patient contact: A multimodal intervention of hand hygiene practice in Three Japanese tertiary care centers

“…Hospital A also successfully involved hospital executives, and elicited the commitment of a nurse manager and physician leader. Consistent with a previous study, 22 we believe that involvement of hospital executives appears to be important to increase overall hand hygiene rate among healthcare workers.…”

Staff Knowledge, Awareness, Perceptions, and Beliefs About Infection Prevention in Pediatric Long-term Care Facilities

“…Direct care providers offered valuable insights, which were generally consistent with previous studies from acute care facilities (Allegranzi, Conway, Larson, & Pittet, 2014; Erasmus et al, 2009; Jackson, Lowton, et al, 2014; Squires et al, 2014). There were a number of commonalities and shared opinions across the three sites, although some differences were identified between various work groups.…”

Demographic characteristics of patients and their assessment of selected hygienic practices of hospital personnel in the context of safety climate of hospitalization

“…[5][6][7][8] In recent years, a global campaign, SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands, promoting My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene, has been carried out. 9 It is aimed at health care professionals, for whom HH is one of the fundamental elements of everyday work, securing patient's safety. 10,11 However, patients themselves should not be excluded from the framework of education programs because they could contribute to the improvement in following correct procedures for HH among medical staff.…”