Hand Hygiene

ISSUE: Hand hygiene is the most important means of reducing the spread of infection. Our goal was to improve the hand hygiene compliance rate within the hospital by using visual reminders, educaiton, and positive reinforcement. PROJECT: Our hospital uses a standardized hand hygiene audit tool that was developed to measure compliance of hospital staff. When we first audited the hand hygiene compliance on our pilot unit, the compliance rate was 47% in October 2005. We had alcohol foam hand wash placed outside of the patient doors to help remind staff to wash their hands when entering the patientʹs room. We also created colorful signs that read, “Foam In, Foam Out.” These signs were placed beside the alcohol foam dispensers outside of the door. Because of our large population of Hispanic employees, we created the signs in Spanish. As we performed audits on the unit, we gave out coupons for free lunch to staff members observed compliant with hand hygiene practices, as a positive reinforcement. RESULTS: Following implementation of the program, the hand hygiene compliance increased. The first month there was a 60% compliance rate (13% higher than the previous month). The next month we continued to see an increase of 6%, bringing our December 2005 hand hygiene rate to 66%. Positive feedback of the program has helped the program become accepted throughout the unit. LESSONS LEARNED: The use of a standardized audit form has helped us collect valid data regarding hand hygiene compliance. By placing the alcohol foam dispensers outside the door with a colorful sign stating, “Foam In, Foam Out”, gives staff a visual reminder to wash their hands before and after patient care. The postive reinforcement of free meals shows staff that we appreciate their awareness of the need to wash their hands. Due to the success of this program, we plan to implement this throughtout the hospital.