6 May at 8:02 am

Hand Hygiene Compliance in Healthcare Industry

A long time before anyone, those in the healthcare industry particularly, heard the word “COVID-19 first,” people heard the statistic that the median hand hygiene compliance rate among healthcare workers is 40%. This statistic is from an often-cited 2015 Cambridge University Press article. With the heightened concentrate on hygiene brought by COVID-19 about, GP PRO wondered if there have been any significant change at hand hygiene compliance. Had the pandemic and its own spotlight on hygiene impacted a sustained and positive improvement?

In November 2021, GP PRO conducted proprietary research with healthcare clinicians and asked two timely questions: “Have you considered your facility’s hand hygiene policy?” and “Can you follow this policy all the time appropriately?” As the findings show that 82% of healthcare workers have become alert to their facility’s hand hygiene policy, only 39% abide by it all the time.

Clinicians know what’s expected of these with regards to hand hygiene, and that’s likely in large part because of consistent communications by infection preventionists through the entire pandemic. Why is compliance holding steady at around 40%? What’s preventing clinicians from following practices best, and what can be achieved about any of it?

Additional findings from GP PRO’s research show:

80% of clinicians know their facility’s way of monitoring hand hygiene compliance.
Of that 80%, 51% state direct observation is the primary monitoring method employed; other methods identified include self-reporting (15%), product usage (13%), patient satisfaction surveys (11%), and an electronic monitoring system (9%).
Just 12% of clinicians believe in the accuracy of their facility’s monitoring method.
98% of healthcare workers believe their facility’s process for collecting hand hygiene compliance data must be improved.