Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Publication Info
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Patterns of Handwashing Behavior and Visits to Patients on a General Medical Ward of Healthcare Workers
Formats Available in JSTOR: PDF
Abstract(back to top)
OBJECTIVE. To obtain accurate data regarding the handwashing behavior and patterns of visits to patients by healthcare workers (HCWs).
METHODS. All visits by HCWs to selected patient rooms were recorded for 3 days and 2 nights. Additionally, 5 nurses were observed for 1 day each and 2 nurses were observed for 1 night each. Nurses were observed for their entire shifts and all of their activities were recorded.
SETTING. A general medical ward in a tertiary‐care hospital.
PARTICIPANTS. Convenience samples of HCWs and patients.
RESULTS. Patients were visited every 25 minutes on average. Monitoring rooms and observing nurses resulted in similar rates of patient visits. The highest level of risk was contact with body fluids in 11% of visits and skin in 40% of visits. The overall rate of handwashing was 46%; however, the rate was higher for visits involving contact with body fluids (81%) and skin (61%). Nurses returned immediately to the same patient 45% of the time. The rate of handwashing was higher for the last of a series of visits to a patient’s room (53% vs 30%, P < .0001).
CONCLUSIONS. Nurses adjusted their handwashing rates in accordance with the risk level of each visit. Monitoring patient rooms and observing nurses yielded similar estimates of patient visits and proportions of visits involving contact with skin or body fluids. Education programs about hand hygiene may be more effective if patterns of care and levels of risk are incorporated into recommendations.
Bibliographic Information(back to top)
- Patterns of Handwashing Behavior and Visits to Patients on a General Medical Ward of Healthcare Workers
- Janet Raboud , PhD, Refik Saskin , MSc, Kurt Wong , BSc, Christine Moore , BSc, Grace Parucha , BSc, Jocelyn Bennett , BSc, Karen Green , BSc, Don Low , MD, Mark Loeb , MD, MSc, Andy Simor , MD, MSc and Allison McGeer , MD, MSc
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
- Vol. 25, No. 3 (March 2004) (pp. 198-202)
Notes and References(back to top)
This item contains 1 note(s).
Notes
Dr. Raboud is from the Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto and the University Health Network; Mr. Saskin, Ms. Moore, Ms. Green, Dr. Low, and Dr. McGeer are from the Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital; Mr. Wong is from the Faculty of Science, University of Toronto; Ms. Parucha and Ms. Bennett are from the Department of Nursing, Mount Sinai Hospital; and Drs. Low, Simor, and McGeer are from the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Loeb is from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Simor is also from the Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Address reprint requests to Janet Raboud, PhD, Prosserman Center for Health Research, Room 5‐244, 60 Murray St., Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X5, Canada.Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada, #90090. Dr. Raboud was partially supported by the “Skate the Dream Foundation” at the University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Items Citing this Item (back to top)
5 item(s) in JSTOR cite this item
- Jeanmarie Mayer , MD; Barbara Mooney , RN, CIC; Adi Gundlapalli , MD, PhD; Stephan Harbarth , MD, MS; Gregory J Stoddard , MPH; Michael A. Rubin , MD, PhD; Louise Eutropius , RN, CIC; Britt Brinton , MT, CIC; Matthew H. Samore , MDVol. 32, No. 1 (January 2011) pp. 59-66Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/657666
- Vicki Erasmus , MSc; Thea J. Daha; Hans Brug , PhD; Jan Hendrik Richardus , MD, PhD; Myra D. Behrendt , MSc; Margreet C. Vos , MD, PhD; Ed F. van Beeck , MD, PhDVol. 31, No. 3 (March 2010) pp. 283-294Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/650451
- Ji‐Hyun Jang , MHSc; Samantha Wu , BSc; Debra Kirzner , MPH; Christine Moore , ART; Gomana Youssef , MSc; Agnes Tong , MSc; Jenny Lourenco , MSc; Robyn B. Stewart , BA; Liz J. McCreight; Karen Green , MSc; Allison McGeer , MDVol. 31, No. 2 (February 2010) pp. 144-150Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/649792
- Janet Raboud , PhD; Refik Saskin , MSc; Andrew Simor , MD; Mark Loeb , MD, MSc; Karen Green , RN; Don E. Low , MD; Allison McGeer , MD, MScVol. 26, No. 7 (July 2005) pp. 607-615Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502589
- John M. Boyce , MDVol. 25, No. 3 (March 2004) pp. 187-188Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502374