A change as simple as installing bright red hand sanitizer dispensers can increase hand hygiene compliance in hospitals, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
After establishing a compliance baseline in eight weeks of observation, a hospital in Germany exchanged its usual sanitizer dispensers for "warning color red" dispensers and monitored dispenser activity for 12 weeks. Researchers examined both the number of dispenser activities and hand rubs per patient day.
Though there was not a significant increase in hand rubs per patient day after exchanging the dispensers, healthcare worker-adjusted compliance had a 6 percent increase once the red dispensers were installed because the nurse-to-patient ratio decreased after the colored dispensers were put in place.
"Therefore, colored devices may help to improve hand hygiene compliance," the study authors concluded.