A new study suggests hospitals could significantly reduce hand hygiene (HH) observations without compromising data quality, allowing infection preventionists to focus on other initiatives.
Association for Professionals in Infection ControlDec 20 2024 Hand hygiene (HH) monitoring in hospitals could be reduced significantly, allowing infection preventionists to redirect efforts toward quality improvement and patient safety initiatives, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The study's findings suggest that hospitals could reduce the number of HH observations from 200 to as few as 50 observations per unit per month without compromising data quality. Hand hygiene is the simplest and most effective method to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings. However, adherence among healthcare workers is often low. Given its vital role in infection prevention, implementing a reliable HH monitoring program is essential. For decades, determining the optimal number of HH observations needed to assess adherence has been a challenge for researchers. In 2019, the Leapfrog Group added a new HH standard to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey which required facilities to collect 200 direct HH observations per month per patient care unit. In 2021, Leapfrog updated the standard to offer 100 observations per unit per month if hospitals met all the other domains in the standard. Survey and accrediting bodies use HH data to assign quality safety grades. The 200-observation standard was based on a 2009 World Health Organization HH observation method. The Leapfrog Group HH standard is challenging for healthcare facilities because of the significant resources needed to gather such a large number of observations and the shift in focus from collecting quality data and educating healthcare teams to achieving a numerical target. The purpose of this investigation was to determine a statistically comparable number of HH observations below the current standard of 100-200 observations per unit per mont
HAND HYGIENE INFECTION CONTROL HOSPITAL STANDARDS PATIENT SAFETY QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
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