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.