A successful multifaceted strategy to improve hand hygiene compliance rates

Abstract

Health care-acquired infections are a major contributor of mortality; therefore, prevention of these infections is a priority. Hand hygiene compliance among health care workers is low. We report the process at our institution to increase the hand hygiene compliance rate (HHCR).We implemented interventions over 6 months. The periods were divided into preintervention, intervention, and postintervention, and the monthly HHCR was calculated. The primary objective was to measure the HHCR after the intervention period and ensure sustainability. There were 25,372 observations, with 22,501 compliant events, for an overall HHCR of 88.7%. The HHCR improved over time (preintervention, 72.7%; invention, 79.7%; postintervention, 93.2%), with significance between pre-and postintervention periods (P < .002). The HHCR stabilized after all interventions and was sustained over 22 months. Our study highlights a multifaceted intervention, including administrative leadership, that led to an increase in the HHCR. Institutions should individualize their multimodal approach to include administrative leadership to achieve a high, sustained HHCR.

Keywords: Compliance rates; Hand hygiene; Health care–acquired infections.