To explore the efficacy of the system, the researchers randomly assigned operating room environments to either the usual intraoperative hand hygiene method or the personalized, body-worn hand hygiene system. They also monitored and reported hourly hand decontamination events for anesthesia and circulating nurse staff members. All total, more than 3,250 OR environments and patients were enrolled in the trial.
Ultimately, the study revealed the staff members with the body-worn system achieved a hand decontamination event rate of 4.3 events per hour. Meanwhile, staff members in the control group who used conventional, wall-mounted hand hygiene devices achieved a hand decontamination event rate of only 0.57 events per hour.
Although the novel system was associated with an increase in hand hygiene compliance, it was not associated with a decrease in the number of 30-day postoperative healthcare-associated infections reported by patients.
“Future work is indicated to optimize the efficacy of this hand hygiene improvement strategy,” the authors concluded.
More articles on hand hygiene:
Where is the sink? Poor location contributes to low hand hygiene compliance
English hospital releases hand hygiene rap and music video
Monitoring hand hygiene may decrease compliance in the long run without follow-up
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