Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/483154
9 Hand Hygiene H and hygiene compliance rates remain generally low despite the well-docu- mented connection between improper hand hygiene and healthcare-associated infec- tions — but there are many varied reasons health- care workers don't comply to hand hygiene pro- tocol, a study published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety found. In the study, teams in eight hospitals used secret observers, as well as "just-in-time" coaches, who observed instances of noncompliance and intervene right after to ask the workers why he or she had not done hand hygiene, to identify the causes of hand hygiene noncompliance. Data from the eight hospi- tals revealed 41 different causes of noncompliance, which were then grouped into 24 causes. Those 24 groups are listed below, in no particular order. 1. Healthcare worker forgot 2. Inconvenient placement of hand rub dispenser or sink 3. Broken dispenser or sink 4. No hand rub in the dispenser or missing soap at sink 5. Healthcare worker was distracted 6. Perception that wearing gloves negated need for hand hygiene 7. Proper use of gloves slows down work process 8. Ineffective education 9. Inadequate safety culture that doesn't stress the need for everyone to perform hand hygiene 10. Worker's hands were full with no convenient place to put supplies 11. Staff did not remind each other to clean hands 12. Isolation area: special circumstances related to gowning and gloving 13. Skin irritation from the cleaning product 14. Lotion dispenser used instead of soap 15. Following another person in or out of the pa- tient room 16. Equipment sharing between rooms requiring frequent entry and exit 17. Bedside procedure requires frequent room en- try and exit 18. Admitting or discharging patients requires frequent room entry and exit 19. Hand hygiene data are not collected or are in- accurate or infrequently reported 20. Perception that excessive hand cleaning is re- quired 21. Hand cleaning product feels unpleasant 22. Healthcare worker was too busy 23. Emergency situation 24. Workflow was not conducive to proper hand hygiene n What Causes Hand Hygiene Noncompliance? 24 Issues By Heather Punke Vibrating Badges Remind Clinicians to Wash Hands By Heather Punke E lectronic hand hygiene monitoring systems are becom- ing more and more commonplace in facilities looking to accurately track hand hygiene compliance without observer bias. But a product made by a company started by Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni is somewhat unique in that it buzzes clinicians who miss a hand hygiene op- portunity. The product, MedSense Clear, is similar to other electronic hand hygiene monitoring precuts, as it involves a badge worn by hospital staff that tracks location and use of hand sanitizer or soap dispensers. But, according to a MIT News report, "it also vibrates to remind workers to wash up" whenever they en- ter or leave a patient room. A study published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health showed hand hygiene compliance rates increased 25 percent in one month after a hospital in Bahrain started using MedSense Clear. The system has been trialed in 10 hospitals in the U.S., Europe, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. n