Powdered Activated Charcoal Tracing in Hand Hygiene Training and Compliance Assessment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of nosocomial infections. As a result, we sought to find an effective, efficient and safe way to train healthcare workers on proper hand washing techniques. We used powdered activated carbon (PAC) as a tracer to visually display hand washing defects after the hand washing process. The real-time visual assessment of the efficacy of the hand washing technique aided in the immediate correction of errors, and this definitively improved hand hygiene techniques of the interns. METHODS: Clinical interns at the emergency department of Shengjing Hospital were included in this study and received training in relation to the six-step hand-washing technique developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The subjects’ hand-washing defects or faults were traced using PAC and corrected accordingly. Acceptance of the PAC tracing method by the interns, and its safety, were both assessed using a questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The results indicated that the back of the hands, fingers, and the wrists were prone to hand-washing defects. The hand-washing defects were significantly reduced after targeted corrections by the trainers. Subjects reported satisfactory acceptance toward the PAC tracing method and the method was relatively safe for subjects. CONCLUSION: The PAC tracing method can visually display hand-washing defects and significantly improve the effectiveness of hand-washing training.