Trained covert observers can more reliably evaluate staff hand hygiene practices than overt observers can, according to a letter to the editor published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Researchers conducted a study at a 450-bed teaching hospital in Mexico. The hospital used hospital epidemiology observers — physicians and nurses trained in infection prevention — as overt observers, and used medical students trained in hand hygiene observation as covert observers.
Compliance observed by the covert medical students was lower in all categories when compared to rates observed by the overt observers.
"We concluded that medical students can be incorporated into a hand hygiene program as covert observers and they can provide a more accurate estimate of compliance than overt observers," the researchers concluded.
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