Signs that encourage clinicians to wash their hands can do more than just boost hand hygiene compliance — they also improve patient and visitor perceptions of the healthcare facility's safety and care quality, according to a recent survey.
The survey was commissioned by SCA, a producer of hygiene products, and was conducted online in April. More than 1,200 U.S. adults responded to the survey, of which roughly 1,000 had visited or were a patient at a healthcare facility during the 12 months prior to the study.
Highlighted below are three findings from the survey.
1. According to the survey, hand washing signage made 84 percent of the respondents feel more confident about both a facility's cleanliness and made 81 percent feel more confident about the quality of care being given.
2. Most respondents (83 percent) said they would prefer to visit a healthcare facility that displays hand washing signage over one that does not. More than half (57 percent) said they felt the absence of hand washing signage made them question the hand hygiene practices of the facility.
3. The top three most important messages the respondents said should be included on signage are reminders to employees to wash their hands (69 percent), messages about the importance of washing hands (52 percent) and information on how to properly wash hands (45 percent).
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