Long before anyone, particularly those in the healthcare industry, first heard the term “COVID-19,” people heard the statistic that the median hand hygiene compliance rate among healthcare workers is 40%. This statistic is from an often-cited 2015 Cambridge University Press article. With the heightened focus on hygiene brought about by COVID-19, GP PRO wondered if there had been any significant change in hand hygiene compliance. Had the pandemic and its spotlight on hygiene impacted a positive and sustained improvement?
Clinicians know what’s expected of them when it comes to hand hygiene, and that’s likely in large part due to consistent communications by infection preventionists throughout the pandemic. So why is compliance holding steady at around 40%? What’s preventing clinicians from following best practices, and what can be done about it?
Additional findings from GP PRO’s research show:
- 80% of clinicians know their facility’s method for monitoring hand hygiene compliance.
- Of that 80%, 51% state direct observation is the primary monitoring method employed; other methods identified include self-reporting (15%), product usage (13%), patient satisfaction surveys (11%), and an electronic monitoring system (9%).
- Just 12% of clinicians believe in the accuracy of their facility’s monitoring method.
- 98% of healthcare workers believe their facility’s process for collecting hand hygiene compliance data needs to be improved.