Controlling Infection Through Correct Hand Hygiene

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Hand hygiene at the right time saves lives ¹
Every year, hundreds of millions of people across the globe suffer from a healthcare associated infection.² Effective hand hygiene at the right times is considered to be the single most important – and low cost – strategy for preventing healthcare associated infections as it reduces the number of microorganisms on hands. ^{2, 3} Hand hygiene includes washing hands with water and soap or using an alcohol-based hand rub.³

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Some of the barriers to good hand hygiene among healthcare workers include heavy workloads, a perception that it is time consuming, lack of understanding about the importance of hand hygiene, problems with skin irritation and poorly located sinks.³
Hand hygiene in Australia
Hand hygiene and reducing healthcare associated infections are key priorities for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission). For several years the Commission, Hand Hygiene Australia, and each jurisdictional authority have collaborated to support the significant efforts of frontline infection control practitioners. As a result, hand hygiene compliance has improved markedly: in August 2009, data from 182 hospitals showed an average national hand hygiene compliance rate of 64% (nurses 69%, doctors 49%).⁴ In October 2014, data from 828 hospitals showed the average national hand hygiene compliance rate had increased to 82% (nurses 86% doctors 71%).⁴
There’s still room for improvement
The target for hand hygiene compliance in 2015 is an average of 70%. A range of resources are available for health service organisations to promote hand hygiene.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed guidelines for healthcare workers to promote and improve hand hygiene programs in health service organisations across the globe. They are complemented by their hand hygiene implementation toolkit and improvement strategy.²
Hand Hygiene Australia’s resources for healthcare workers have been adapted for use in Australia with a focus on helping them develop and sustain hand hygiene programs in a diverse range of health service organisations across the country.⁵ These include a hand hygiene manual, practice guidelines for blood collection and dialysis, alcohol-based hand rub safety information, education (e.g. PowerPoint and video presentations), audit tools and guidelines, hand hygiene FAQs, promotional material (e.g. posters, brochures and fact sheets) and online learning packages.
References
1. World Health Organisation. Save lives: Clean your hands. Geneva: WHO, 2015.
2. World Health Organisation. The evidence for clean hands. Geneva: WHO, 2015.
3. Hand Hygiene Australia. About Hand Hygiene. Melbourne: HHA, 2015.
4. Hand Hygiene Australia. National data. Melbourne: HHA, 2015.
5. Hand Hygiene Australia. Resources for healthcare workers. HHA, 2015.
6. Hand Hygiene Australia. Resources for the community. HHA, 2015.
For more information and to download resources for healthcare workers visit www.hha.org.au/ or www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/