Improvement of hand hygiene compliance in a private hospital using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) method.

OBJECTIVE

Improving the compliance to hand hygiene in healthcare providers is important to reduce healthcare-associated infections. This study aimed to compare the compliance rate before and after the improvement of compliance to hand hygiene.

METHODS

In this study 270 of the 348 medical staff working in a 61-bed private hospital was observed. The informed observation was performed by the infection control committee in the entire hospital using "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" for a period of one year. After the first six months, an improvement study was conducted together with the hospital's quality department using the plan-do-check-act cycle. The study was conducted in a private hospital in Istanbul/Turkey; Kadıkoy Florence Nightingale Hospital in 2014.

RESULTS

In the first six months of the year, 153 actions were observed at 316 proper situations. The compliance rate was 35%, 54% and 64% for the physicians, nurses and, other healthcare staff, respectively. The overall compliance rate was 48%. One hundred eighty-three actions were observed for 306 situations after the improvement and education studies. The compliance rate was 29%, 72% and 86%. The overall mean compliance rate was 60%.

CONCLUSION

The promotion of hand hygiene requires the cooperation of the hospital administrators, infection control committee, and quality departments for better hand hygiene practices among the healthcare providers.