Hand Hygiene Strategies Should be Based on Local Needs, Take Into Account Contextual Factors

Jammali-Blasi, et al. reports the findings of a study to identify the views of 300 randomly sampled acute-care healthcare personnel from a tertiary referral teaching hospital, on the factors that they believe influence hand hygiene practice, and their views on strategies to improve compliance. Data were collected using a 19-question self-administered questionnaire.

The sample response rate was 39% (n = 118). Doctors were significantly less likely to report receiving hand hygiene education (p < 0.01) or familiarity with the five moments for hand hygiene (p < 0.01). Overall, respondents regarded organisational strategies more favourably than clinician or patient-focused strategies. Medical staff were less likely to agree with clinical area hand hygiene performance feedback (p = 0.03) while nursing staff were more likely to be agreeable to regular hand hygiene assessment (p = 0.02).

The researchers conclude that hand hygiene education may require targeting of particular groups of healthcare professionals to ensure that all clinical disciplines receive hand hygiene education. They add that hand hygiene strategies should be based on local needs and take into account contextual factors.

Reference: Jammali-Blasi A, McInnes E and Middleton S. A survey of acute care clinicians' views on factors influencing hand hygiene practice and actions to improve hand hygiene compliance. Infection, Disease & Health. Vol. 21, No. 1, May 2016, Pages 16–25.