A study conducted at Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville reveals using passive visual stimuli encourages self-directed hand hygiene compliance among healthcare staff.
The study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control. To test the effect of visual stimuli, the researchers placed a picture of a set of eyes at two foam alcohol dispensers and compared the amount of hand hygiene solution dispensed with two locations that didn't have the picture.
"The average volume dispensed in stations with eyes was 279 cc versus that in the stations without eyes, which was 246 cc, and this was a statistically significant difference," concluded the study authors.
This is not the first study to test such stimuli on hand hygiene compliance rates; a study conducted in a surgical intensive care unit at a teaching hospital in Miami last year achieved improved compliance using the image of a man's staring eyes.