Abstract
This study quantifies the relationship between hand hygiene and the frequency with which healthcare workers (HCWs) touch surfaces in patient rooms. Surface contacts and hand hygiene were recorded in a single-bed UK hospital ward for six care types. Surface contacts often formed non-random patterns, but hygiene before or after patient contact depends significantly on care type (P=0.001). The likelihood of hygiene correlated with the number of surface contacts (95% confidence interval 1.1-5.8, P=0.002), but not with time spent in the room. This highlights that a potential subconscious need for hand hygiene may have developed in HCWs, which may support and help focus future hygiene education programmes.
Highlights
The risk of acquiring nosocomial infections is a recognized problem in hospitals worldwide.[1]
Recent studies have highlighted the importance of surface contamination and suggest a causal link to subsequent patient infection.2e4 Understanding which surfaces are touched by healthcare workers (HCWs) and how this relates to hand hygiene is important in assessing patient risk
This paper reports an observational study to record the sequences of HCW surface contacts in
Summary
The risk of acquiring nosocomial infections is a recognized problem in hospitals worldwide.[1]. This paper reports an observational study to record the sequences of HCW surface contacts in single-patient rooms, and quantifies the relationships with care type and hand hygiene frequency
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