Sustained increase in resident meal time hand hygiene through an interdisciplinary intervention engaging long-term care facility residents and staff

Four Moments for Patient Hand Hygiene: A Patient-Centered, Provider-Facilitated Model to Improve Patient Hand Hygiene

“…This observation is consistent with findings of other recent studies. 4,5 Second, our findings suggest that engagement of ancillary staff members such as food service and patient transport and providing products that are easy to use may be beneficial. Finally, to maximize effectiveness, it may be helpful to select specific moments when patient hand hygiene measures can be easily facilitated by staff.…”

“…We previously found that the towelettes provided on trays may be difficult for many patients to open. 4 Therefore, canisters of antiseptic wipes (Purell sanitizing wipes, GOJO Industries, Akron, OH) were placed on the food tray delivery carts; the delivery staff placed a fresh wipe on top of each food tray and reminded patients to clean their hands. Patient transport personnel were asked to inquire whether each patient would like to perform hand hygiene at the time of pick-up and drop-off from the unit.…”

A Randomized Trial to Determine the Impact of an Educational Patient Hand-Hygiene Intervention on Contamination of Hospitalized Patient’s Hands with Healthcare-Associated Pathogens

“…Based on these potential benefits, there is increasing interest in patient hand hygiene as an infection control measure. [1][2][3][4][5][6] However, limited data are available on the frequency of contamination of patients' hands during hospitalization, and it has not been demonstrated that patient hand-hygiene interventions reduce such contamination. Therefore, we conducted a randomized trial to test the hypothesis that a patient hand-hygiene intervention would reduce new acquisition of hand contamination in hospitalized patients with negative hand cultures on admission.…”

Multidrug-Resistant Organisms on Patients’ Hands

“…1,2 Increased contact between health care workers, the environment, and patients in PAC facilities can increase the risk of MDRO cross-transmission 3,4 because PAC patients may need assistance with activities of daily living and are encouraged to be mobile outside of their room for rehabilitation, dining, and other recreational activities. Much more than other anatomic sites, patients’ hands are more likely to come in contact with environmental surfaces, health care workers’ hands, and other patients in PAC facilities.…”