International
from Tschudin-Sutter S, Sepulcri D, Dangel M, Schuhmacher H, Widmer AF 2015
published in Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 36(4):482-3
DOI 10.1017/ice.2014.82

Compliance with the World Health Organization hand hygiene technique: a prospective observational study.

A high compliance in terms of hand disinfection when indicated does not necessarily mean that the hand disinfection is performed correctly in accordance with the 6 steps recommended by WHO.

This prospective observational study investigated the hand hygiene compliance (HHC) of healthcare workers (HCWs) according to the 6-step rub-in technique of the WHO while following the indications of WHO’s '5 Moments' model. Hand hygiene observations were performed by 3 trained researchers over 520 hours of direct observation. Indication-focused HHC according to the '5 Moments' was performed at most opportunities (93.2% of 2,662). In contrast, execution-focused compliance, where all 6 steps were performed with the rub-in technique, was significantly worse (8.5%). The execution of a total of only 3 of the 6 steps was the most frequently observed proportion of correctly executed steps, at 28.7%.

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