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Impact of Wearable Alcohol Gel Dispensers on Hand Hygiene in an Emergency Department
Author(s) -
Haas Janet P.,
Larson Elaine L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
academic emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.221
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1553-2712
pISSN - 1069-6563
DOI - 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00045.x
Subject(s) - hand sanitizer , medicine , hygiene , emergency department , intervention (counseling) , hand washing , alcohol , medical emergency , nursing , biochemistry , chemistry , pathology
Objectives: Compliance with hand hygiene (HH) by health care workers is widely recognized as the most effective way to decrease transmission of infection among patients. However, compliance remains poor, averaging about 40%. A potential barrier to compliance is convenience and accessibility of sinks or alcohol hand sanitizer dispensers. The purpose of this study was to assess the use of a personal alcohol gel dispensing system, compared with the traditional wall‐mounted alcohol gel dispenser and sinks in an urban hospital’s emergency department (ED). Methods: This was a quasi‐experimental trial of a personal wearable alcohol hand sanitizer dispenser. Observations of ED staff HH were performed in the month before intervention and during three intervention phases over a 2.5‐month period. Results: A total of 757 HH opportunities were observed: 112 before and 432 after patient contact, 72 after contact with the patient’s environment, 24 before invasive procedures, and 117 after body fluid contact. HH compliance improved during the first intervention period, but improvement was not sustained. There was no significant improvement in HH from baseline to the final intervention period. The wearable alcohol gel dispenser was used for 9% of HH episodes. Conclusions: Availability of a wearable dispenser was not associated with a significant improvement in use of alcohol products for HH. These results support other studies in which only transient success was reported with a single intervention; greater success in sustaining increased HH compliance has been reported with use of multimodal approaches in which increased availability of products may be a part of the intervention.