Healthcare workers are less likely to comply with hand hygiene standards at the end of a shift, particularly if it was a long shift, according to research that will be published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology.
Researchers analyzed more than 4,157 caregivers working in 35 different hospitals who experienced more than 13.7 million hand hygiene opportunities.
The study found that hand hygiene compliance rates dropped by 8.7 percentage points on average from the beginning to the end of a typical, 12-hour work shift. This decline in compliance increased with an increase in work intensity.
However, this effect can be mitigated by longer breaks between shifts, which the study found increased subsequent compliance rates.
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