Handwashing in healthcare today: Why haven’t we gotten better?

Abstract

In 2010, a study identiiied that only about 40% of doctors and other health care providers comply with proper hand hygiene techniques in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. These statistics are alarming as healthcare professionals are the ones who set the gold standard for hygiene and sterility, but they continue to ind it difficult to demonstrate this standard in every practice [1]. Even with The Joint Commission supporting that hand hygiene as the most critical intervention for preventing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), the compliance rate for hand hygiene has not drastically improved [2]. The goal of this article brief is to answer the question why hasn't handwashing improved even with the evidence to support that proper hand hygiene decreases HCAIs? A Brief History We have known for generations that handwashing with soap and water is part of proper personal hygiene [3]. In fact, this concept of cleansing one's hands with some form of antiseptic emerged in the early 19 th Century through a French pharmacist's demonstration. In 1822, this pharmacist wished to eradicate the foul odors of human corpses using a solution of chlorides or soap inding that such a solution could also be used as disinfections and antiseptics [4]. It was not until the 1975, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) irst presented a formalized handwashing guideline for hospitals [5]. Some progress As the foundation of infection prevention, proper hand hygiene in the healthcare setting assists in decreasing the chances of a patient suffering from a HCAIs. Along with developing these serious infections comes the sometimes-life-threatening complications associated them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identiiies that nearly 1 in 31 hospitalized patients suffers from at least one infection while in these healthcare facilities [6]. Some progress has been made in improving these numbers from a previous result of 1 in 25 per day, but more needs to done [7]. The culprit Surprising, the hands that offer the much-needed healthcare services to patients are the ones that are often to blame for the spend of healthcare-associated infections [2,3,5,8]. As the most common vehicle for the transmission of HCAIs, the healthcare professional is the one who can prevent the spread of the resistance organisms leading to HCAIs and thus, decrease the cost of healthcare [8,9]. Of course, major organizations including the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) continue to launch patient safety campaigns in an attempt to improve hand hygiene compliance among healthcare professionals [10]. The indings of several studies have determined that it is a combination of many factors that is leading to the lack of a 100% compliance in hand-hygiene among healthcare professionals [8].