Elizabeth O’Neil Baker
Columbus State University, School of Nursing, GA 31904, USA
Title: Effect of Nurse Leaders’ Observations on Staff Hand Hygiene Adherence
Biography
Biography: Elizabeth O’Neil Baker
Abstract
Surgical site infections (SSIs) and other healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) continuously contribute to longer lengths of stay, unnecessary deaths, and increased costs for healthcare organizations. This is an ongoing concern that is attributed to one simple task, hand hygiene. Poor hand hygiene adherence rates are common among healthcare workers. Utilizing nursing leadership and frequent monitoring was conducted in this study to assess the influence leadership has on staff hand hygiene adherence rates. A total of eight participants received education and compliance data from the previous year prior to the study and weekly reminders during the study. The nurse leader observed a total of 139 hand hygiene opportunities, monitoring this task weekly versus quarterly, and reported a 40% increase in adherence rates from the previous year. These results indicate that leadership has a significant influence on staff, along with an increased frequency of direct monitoring. Results of SSIs during the study were not available, but it was expected that a decrease in those rates would occur with an improvement in hand hygiene.