A multifaceted approach to improve hand hygiene practices in the adult intensive care unit of a tertiary-care center

Hasan M Al-Dorzi; Amal Matroud; Khaled A Al Attas; Ahmad I Azzam; Adel Musned; Brintha Naidu; Tamara Govender; Zandile Yeni; Chinette Abarintos; David White; Hanan Balkhy; Yaseen M Arabi

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2014.02.003

A multifaceted approach to improve hand hygiene practices in the adult intensive care unit of a tertiary-care center

J Infect Public Health. 2014 Jul-Aug;7(4):360-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2014.02.003. Epub 2014 Apr 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Intensive Care Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia; College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: aldorzih@yahoo.com.
² Adult ICU, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: MatroudA@ngha.med.sa.
³ Anesthesiology Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alattaskh@ngha.med.sa.
⁴ Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: AzzamA@ngha.med.sa.
⁵ Respiratory Services Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: MusnedA@ngha.med.sa.
⁶ Surgical Intensive Care Unit, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: naidvb@ngha.med.sa.
⁷ Burn Unit, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: GovenderT@ngha.med.sa.
⁸ Intermediate Care Unit, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: YeniB@ngha.med.sa.
⁹ Neuro ICU, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: Abarintosch@ngha.med.sa.
¹⁰ Critical Care Services, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: whited@ngha.med.sa.
¹¹ Infection Control and Prevention Program, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: BalkhyH@ngha.med.sa.
¹² Intensive Care Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia; College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: yaseenarabi@yahoo.com.

PMID: 24702745
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2014.02.003

Abstract

A multidisciplinary team was formed to improve hand hygiene (HH) practices in a tertiary-care ICU. At baseline, an audit revealed that the overall HH compliance was 64% and was significantly lower at night than during the day shift. After implementing a stepwise multifaceted approach that included education, workplace reminders, active feedback and later universal contact precautions, the HH compliance improved significantly to >80%, and the improvement was sustained over several months. This improvement was noted during the day and night and affected different healthcare workers as well as visitors.

Keywords: Critical care; Hand hygiene; Intensive care unit; Quality improvement.

MeSH terms

Adult
Behavior Therapy / methods*
Guideline Adherence / statistics & numerical data
Hand Hygiene / methods*
Humans
Infection Control / methods*
Intensive Care Units
Tertiary Care Centers