Hand Hygiene

Why this measure is important:

• In the United States, hospital patients get nearly 2 million infections each year. That’s about 1 infection for every 20 patients.
• The hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) frequently become contaminated with germs during routine patient care. Proper hand hygiene is the most important way to prevent the transmission of these germs from patient to patient.

How we measure:

The percent of observed times hand hygiene is properly performed housewide. This includes before patient contact, before an aseptic task, after body fluid exposure risk, after patient contact and after contact with patient surroundings.

Last update: 7/8/2024 by Lala Hussain

What we are doing to improve:

• Strive for staff to perform at 95% compliance with nationally recognized hand hygiene moments.
• Share hand hygiene data with unit and area leaders and discuss results on a monthly basis.
• Encourage staff to discuss the importance of hand hygiene with our patients and families.
• Continually assess the medical center environment to ensure sufficient hand hygiene products are available for all staff, families, and visitors.

View the Operational Definition: Hand Hygiene Compliance