High-level handwashing compliance in a community teaching hospital: a challenge that can be met!

Handwashing is the most important and least expensive measure for preventin g the transmission of hospital-acquired infection. Compliance, however, rar ely exceeds 40%, even in intensive care units. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the authors' infection control programme in relation t o handwashing compliance of healthcare workers. Ten nursing students observ ed 300 uninformed staff members and recorded their handwashing practices th roughout the working day. The observations were categorized by profession, gender, age, hospital unit and type of delivered care. In 1035 opportunitie s that required handwashing, the overall compliance was 76%. Healthcare wor kers washed hands before (68%) and after patient care (80%). Females compli ed more than males (69 vs. 80%, P <0.0001) and nurses more than physicians (81 vs. 69%, P <0.001). In intensive care units, overall compliance exceede d 97%, while in other wards and in the emergency departments, it approximat ed 61%. More handwashing was observed during the evening shift compared wit h the morning shift (P=0.02). Despite the high compliance, only 30% washed their hands for the required 10-20 s. In conclusion, compliance with handwa shing in the authors' institution is the highest reported to date, and refl ects the intensive and incessant educational infection control programme. ( C) 2001 The Hospital Infection Society.