Source/Disclosures
Published by:
sources:
Baio F, et al. Hand hygiene performance improvement results in adult acute care units after 52 weeks of a novel intervention program. Presented at: APIC 2023; June 16-28, 2023; Orlando.
Disclosures:
Eke-Okoro reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the abstract for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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Key takeaways:
- An automated hand hygiene monitoring system increased hand hygiene compliance across all units in a hospital.
- There was a significant increase in hand hygiene compliance after just 3 weeks of the intervention.
ORLANDO — An automated hand hygiene monitoring system improved hand hygiene compliance at a New Jersey hospital, according to results presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology annual conference.
“The CDC states that maintaining good hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways to prevent infection. The hospital is dedicated to enhancing patient outcomes and patient safety,” Ndubuisi Eke-Okoro, MSc, CIC, an infection preventionist at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, told Healio. “As part of our journey to a high reliability organization and to maintain a culture of safety, hand hygiene became a top priority.”
An automated hand hygiene monitoring system provided additional accountability and led to improved hand hygiene compliance. Image: Adobe Stock.
Eke-Okoro and colleagues used an automated hand hygiene monitoring system to track group hand hygiene performance using an equation that multiplied the number of hand hygiene product dispenses by 100 and divided that number by the number of room entries and exits. The intervention was implemented after a 21-day baseline period in nine adult units for 32 weeks from March to October 2022.
In addition to the automated hygiene system, the intervention also included daily huddles with department leaders who reported real-time hand hygiene performance rates.
During the intervention period, median hand hygiene rates increased significantly across all units (P < .05), ranging from 48% to 104% improvement compared with the baseline period, the researchers reported.
Additionally, there was a significant increase in hand hygiene compliance at the conclusion of just the first 3 weeks of the intervention period (RR = 1.09; P < .001) and at the end of the 32-week intervention period (RR = 1.61; P < .001; P < .001) compared with baseline.
“Personal accountability leads to a change of culture toward prevention and control of infection,” Eke-Okoro said.
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