Hand Hygiene All Stars: Unit-Based Recognition to Highlight Hand Hygiene Successes

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

6-1-2025

Publication Title

Am J Infect Control

Abstract

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is an important tool in preventing the spread of infections to patients, staff, and visitors within the healthcare environment. HH compliance often decreases as a result of competing priorities within the clinical environment. To reengage staff and incorporate more positivity into the HH program, a unit-based recognition program was established. This program aimed to highlight HH successes and promote interdepartmental competition. Methods: At the beginning of each month, stealth compliance data from the internal dashboard was reviewed for all eligible units. Eligible units were those that have data collected by external/non-biased stealth observers. The unit with greater than 25 observations and the highest overall compliance was selected as the winner. The winning unit was notified, and a date was set for an award ceremony to be held on the unit. At the ceremony, the Chief Nursing Officer presented the unit with a “Hand Hygiene All Star” trophy and photos were taken of the group. The winner was recognized at a monthly nursing leader meeting and photos were shared on the organization’s internal webpage and electronic huddle boards. The HH compliance for the eligible units from the six months pre-implementation was compared to the six months post-implementation. Results: Since implementation, ten Hand Hygiene All Star winners have been recognized. For two different months, two winners were celebrated due to a tie. Additionally, a Hand Hygiene Costar category was created to celebrate the runner ups in two different months. HH compliance in the eligible units has increased 11.2%, from 67% in the six months pre-implementation to 78.2% in the post-implementation period. Conclusions: Monthly recognition of a Hand Hygiene All Star has incorporated more positivity into the HH program. Celebrating successes and reengaging staff has helped to highlight that HH is a priority within the organization.

Volume

53

Issue

6

First Page

S33

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