PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Efficacy of a new educational tool to improve Handrubbing technique amongst healthcare workers: a controlled, before-after study.

  • Andrew J Stewardson,
  • Anne Iten,
  • Véronique Camus,
  • Angèle Gayet-Ageron,
  • Darren Caulfield,
  • Gerard Lacey,
  • Didier Pittet

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105866
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 9
p. e105866

Abstract

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IntroductionHand hygiene is a key component of infection control in healthcare. WHO recommends that healthcare workers perform six specific poses during each hand hygiene action. SureWash (Glanta Ltd, Dublin, Ireland) is a novel device that uses video-measurement technology and immediate feedback to teach this technique. We assessed the impact of self-directed SureWash use on healthcare worker hand hygiene technique and evaluated the device's diagnostic capacity.MethodsA controlled before-after study: subjects in Group A were exposed to the SureWash for four weeks followed by Group B for 12 weeks. Each subject's hand hygiene technique was assessed by blinded observers at baseline (T0) and following intervention periods (T1 and T2). Primary outcome was performance of a complete hand hygiene action, requiring all six poses during an action lasting ≥20 seconds. The number of poses per hand hygiene action (maximum 6) was assessed in a post-hoc analysis. SureWash's diagnostic capacity compared to human observers was assessed using ROC curve analysis.ResultsThirty-four and 29 healthcare workers were recruited to groups A and B, respectively. No participants performed a complete action at baseline. At T1, one Group A participant and no Group B participants performed a complete action. At baseline, the median number of poses performed per action was 2.0 and 1.0 in Groups A and B, respectively (p = 0.12). At T1, the number of poses per action was greater in Group A (post-intervention) than Group B (control): median 3.8 and 2.0, respectively (pDiscussionWhile no impact on complete actions was demonstrated, SureWash significantly increased the number of poses per hand hygiene action and demonstrated good diagnostic capacity.