Research published in the American Journal of Infection Control examined hand hygiene compliance rates at five tertiary care facilities.
Researchers tracked alcohol-based handrub use for six months through an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system. Hand hygiene product use and total hours worked were calculated for staff to calculate use frequency.
Here are the key insights to know:
1. Hand hygiene compliance rates of greater than 85 percent were present at all facilities.
2. Use of alcohol based handrub use was more important than hand washing.
3. Nonclinical and nursing staff had higher handwashing rates than other healthcare staff.
4. "This extensive dataset, monitoring nearly 4000 healthcare workers and more than 6 million data points, provides a detailed description of current hand hygiene practices of hospital staff. ABHR was used more frequently than hand washing. Job function was found to affect hand hygiene frequency, with non-clinical staff and nursing staff demonstrating elevated rates of hand hygiene," the researchers concluded.