According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first-ever Global Report on Infection Prevention and Control, practising adequate hand hygiene and other IPC strategies can prevent 70% of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Hand hygiene compliance remains suboptimal around the world
Several studies systematically reviewed the hand hygiene compliance level in different countries. The results were unexpected – the level of compliance with hand hygiene guidelines (in the absence of any improvement strategy) was on average 40-50%, but in many cases, was seen as low as 20%, even in high-income countries (1,2)
Key findings on hand hygiene from the WHO’s report:
- The World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released landmark institutional assessments that emphasized the positive return on investment from implementing and enforcing proper IPC measures, primarily hand hygiene (3).
- Hand hygiene and environmental hygiene in health care facilities were the most cost-saving interventions.
- Better hand hygiene compliance can decrease the risk of dying as a result of infections with antimicrobial resistant pathogens by 50% and lower the related long-term complications by at least 40% (3).
Appropriate hand hygiene practices are a basic need in all healthcare institutions that can prevent infections, save money, and save lives.
WHO advocates for a multimodal strategy
Multimodal improvement strategies are the gold standard IPC solutions for hand hygiene, according to strong evidence and the WHO’s own studies (3,4,5).
The strategy includes 5 elements:
Source: Global report on infection prevention and control. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022
According to the findings, enabling organizational safety culture is a crucial aspect of improving hand hygiene behaviour over time. However, of the five hand hygiene enhancement modules, establishing a safe environment for hand hygiene had the lowest rating among the studied organizations. The low safety climate score was mostly caused by the absence of hand hygiene mentors and a lack of patient participation (6).
Sani Nudge meets all five elements of WHO’s multimodal strategy
A multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy is the most efficient way to improve hand hygiene levels in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Sani Nudge meets all five elements as described below:
No nation or healthcare system, however sophisticated, can claim to be free of HAIs. WHO’s global report outlines the importance of effective IPC strategies, in particular, improved hand hygiene.
In a nutshell, Sani Nudge offers many benefits compared to other hand hygiene monitoring strategies, such as direct observations. It can help your organization to improve patient safety, reduce HAIs, staff absenteeism and save a lot of resources!
Did you know that for each 30-bed hospital ward, just one HAI of high severity can exceed the annual budget for the Sani Nudge solution and alcohol-based products combined?
If you book a live demo today, you can set your organization on its way to improved hand hygiene and a sustained behaviour change.
Still in doubt?
Visit the following resources to learn more about a solution that will work best for your organization.
- 2021 A year in achievements
- The business case for hand hygiene: What are the real costs?
- A better understanding of hygiene behaviour
- Reduction in hospital-acquired infections
- Significantly improved hand hygiene levels using the Sani Nudge solution
- Reduction in staff absenteeism (short term sick leave)
References
- Clancy C, Delungahawatta T, Dunne CP. Hand-hygiene-related clinical trials reported between 2014 and 2020: a comprehensive systematic review. J Hosp Infect. 2021;111:6- 26.
- Erasmus V, Daha TJ, Brug H, Richardus JH, Behrendt MD, Vos MC et al. Systematic review of studies on compliance with hand hygiene guidelines in hospital care. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2010;31(3):283–94
- Stemming the Superbug Tide: Just A Few Dollars More. Paris: Organisation for Economic Development; 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307599-en, accessed 3 July 2022)
- Lotfinejad N, Peters A, Tartari E, Fankhauser-Rodriguez C, Pires D, Pittet D. Hand hygiene in health care: 20 years of ongoing advances and perspectives. Lancet Infect Dis. 2021;21(8):e209-e21.
- Allegranzi B, Gayet-Ageron A, Damani N, Bengaly L, McLaws M-L, Moro M-L, et al. Global implementation of WHO’s multimodal strategy for improvement of hand hygiene: a quasi- experimental study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2013;13(10):843-51.
- De Kraker MEA, Tartari E, Tomczyk S, Twyman A, Francioli L, Cassini A, et al. xxx Global report on infection prevention and control Implementation of hand hygiene in health-care facilities: results from the WHO Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework global survey 2019. Lancet Infect Dis. S1473- 3099(21)00618-6 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00618-6, accessed 11 July 2022).
