Hand hygiene is critical to prevent transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms and the development of healthcare-associated infections, yet compliance with recommendations is poor.
The objective of this study was to assess short- and long-term effects of an infection prevention promotion program on healthcare personnel hand hygiene behaviors.
Hospital healthcare personnel at a tertiary care academic center participated in a time series design to test a multimodal program that included a multimedia communications campaign, education, leadership engagement, environment modification, team performance measurement, and feedback. Healthcare personnel hand hygiene practices were measured via direct observations over a three-year period by “undercover” observers.
The data analysis revealed significant improvements in all units and services in the hospital that coincided with implementation of the various program components. There is a lack of data related to patient outcomes.
The importance or relative contribution of the individual components to the overall improvement in hand hygiene could not be assessed. Generalizability is limited by the single case-study design.