Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 May-Jun;9(3):366-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2015.11.006. Epub 2015 Dec 19.

Assessment of hand hygiene techniques using the World Health Organization's six steps

Ariadna V Arias  1 , Humberto G Garcell  2 , Yagdeline R Ochoa  3 , Katiana F Arias  4 , Fernando R Miranda  5
Affiliations
Free article

Assessment of hand hygiene techniques using the World Health Organization's six steps

Ariadna V Arias et al. J Infect Public Health. 2016 May-Jun.
Free article

Abstract

The quality of hand hygiene was evaluated via direct observation for compliance with the six recommended World Health Organization steps. A total of 2497 HH opportunities, of which 1573 (63.0%) were hand rubs, were monitored over a five month period. Compliance was higher in nurses compared with physicians and auxiliaries and in steps 1 and 2 for hand rubs as well as the first three steps of hand washing, with lower rates after these steps. Rubbing of the thumbs and fingertips achieved the lowest rates of compliance in both HH types. A combination of the five recommended moments and six steps and staff education is recommended to improve the quality of hand hygiene.

Keywords: Hand hygiene; Medical staff; Technique; WHO six steps.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources