Hand hygiene rates are three times higher when auditors are present and visible to healthcare workers, according to a study published in BMJ Quality & Safety.
Researchers in an academic acute-care hospital recorded the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for eight months using a real-time location system which also tracked the location of hand hygiene auditors. The rate of hand hygiene events per dispenser not in sight of auditors were compared to the rates of use of dispensers within sight of auditors.
Workers were much more likely to use the sanitizer dispensers visible to auditors, they found. The hand hygiene event rate for dispensers visible to auditors was 3.75 per dispenser per hour, while the rate for dispensers not visible to auditors was 1.48 during the same time frame.
The result of the study "calls into question the accuracy of publicly reported hospital hand hygiene compliance rates," the researchers concluded.
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