If hand hygiene plans / policies are present, staff have been educated and trained, and compliance is still an issue, then healthcare systems may need to consider other methods of inquiry to identify the root of the noncompliance.”

this documentation should be incorporated into the electronic medical record and not recorded on paper only.”

Kalps point to the fact that most hospitals and healthcare systems have comprehensive hand hygiene protocols and that staff have been educated in most situations.“ If hand hygiene plans / policies are present, staff have been educated and trained, and compliance is still an issue, then healthcare systems may need to consider other methods of inquiry to identify the root of the noncompliance,” she says.“ A unit-based focus group or anonymous survey may help unpeel the barriers to hand hygiene compliance. Once barriers are identified, it is often helpful to recruit a unit-based hand hygiene champion to improve hand hygiene compliance.”

Other Considerations

“ This is not a new idea,” Goss says,“ However, getting“ back to the basics” should be a consideration for improving processes both in the patient-care areas and

in the infection prevention departments.”

St. John advocates for the use of artificial intelligence( AI) to perform real-time surveillance for HAIs.“ This is another topic all its own, as the technology keeps advancing,” he says.“ We have already seen the use of this technology in real-life situations to monitor and provide direct feedback on the process of handwashing by healthcare providers prior to delivering patient care.”

Woodall emphasizes the importance of a facility’ s culture.“ Always culture, as it’ s the root of every failure, the lifeline of every success. You can’ t train your way out of a toxic culture. You can’ t policy your way past apathy. If you want real improvement, you must fix the culture first. This means leadership showing up, IPs speaking up and staff stepping up. IPC is everyone’ s job, but someone must lead the charge and call out the rot when they see it. Otherwise, we’ re just playing musical chairs.”

References:

Alhumaid S, Al Mutair A, et al. Knowledge of infection prevention and control among healthcare workers and factors influencing compliance: a systematic review. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2021 Jun 3; 10:86. doi: 10.1186 / s13756-021-00957-0

Kalp, EL, Marx JF and Davis J. APIC MegaSurvey: State of the IP Profession- Analysis from the APIC Research Committee: Understanding the current state of infection preventionists through competency, role, and activity self-assessment. Am J Infect Control. Vol. 45, Issue 6. June 1, 2017, Pages 589-596.