Is Your Alcohol Handrub as Professional as You Are?

Formal education, certification and on-the-job training contribute to the expertise of a healthcare professional. These dedicated staff members use many sources of scientifically based information to develop interventions that improve the quality of patient care. Many professionals may not be aware that there is another source of information to add to their list of resources — some manufacturers conduct research and make reports available on the testing of their products.

Recently, infection control professionals have adopted “zero tolerance” toward healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in their programs as the most important initiative to improve the quality of patient care. One way that healthcare workers can contribute to the success of this initiative is by increasing and maintaining their compliance with good hand hygiene practices.

Professional hand hygiene products, especially alcohol handrubs, should be regarded as a “must have” element of hand hygiene programs. The time has come to recognize that professional-grade alcohol handrub products used in the healthcare environment can be differentiated from consumer or household-grade alcohol handrubs. Household alcohol handrubs are not necessarily developed to meet the antimicrobial performance standards of a healthcare personnel handwash (HCPH) as proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and may not be as effective when used multiple times over the course of a day. Typical household alcohol rubs may also irritate the skin after multiple applications because of inadequate concentrations of emollients and skin conditioners. This can make compliance with hand hygiene practices difficult.