Changing the Game for Hand Hygiene Conversations.

Abstract

In the April 2017 issue of Hospital Pediatrics , Linam1 wrote of the need to promote a culture in which health care workers, patients, and families are encouraged to speak up about observed hand hygiene failures. He notes that this is a challenging task and cites cases in which, despite witnessing inadequate hand hygiene procedures, observers chose to remain silent.2 A study by Longtin et al3 reported that of 194 patients surveyed, over 75% reported that they would not feel comfortable asking a nurse or physician to perform hand hygiene. There were a variety of reasons given for this inability to ask, including the perception that providers should already know when to perform hand hygiene, the belief that this request is not part of the patient’s role, a feeling of embarrassment or awkwardness about asking, and fear of reprisal. Attempts to address the interpersonal barriers that impede patients’ and families’ abilities to request that providers perform hand hygiene are still nascent. Designing effective strategies to overcome the barriers to speaking up requires a more robust understanding of …