Here are the conclusions of 11 hand hygiene studies from the past month, presented in reverse chronological order.
1. Four nurse-led interventions helped increase hand hygiene compliance by approximately 66 percent in six months at a Chinese hospital, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
2. Performing hand hygiene before donning nonsterile gloves may not have a clinical benefit, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
3. Healthcare workers' hand hygiene compliance was higher when patients were under contact precautions — measures taken to reduce the spread of infection — compared with the hospital population overall, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
4. Improved hand hygiene compliance reduced the transmission of Staphylococcus aureus in a Dutch teaching hospital, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
5. A recent study published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control found that rates of participation in hand hygiene practices among elderly patients are low.
6. An electronic monitoring system can accurately measure hand hygiene compliance, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
7. Staff workload was not associated with hand hygiene compliance in a hematology ward at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
8. A hand hygiene program that included an electronic compliance monitoring system improved a hospital's compliance rates 92 percent in three months, according to a study by GOJO Industries.
9. Gloves were used inappropriately 42 percent of the time in six hospital wards, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
10. The elimination of a glove use mandate for healthcare workers caring for patients on contact precautions increased hand hygiene compliance 64.5 percent, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
11. A study published in the 2013 supplement of Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control found that patients are less likely than healthcare workers to agree with the concept of a patient role in healthcare worker hand hygiene.