Objective: To evaluate hand hygiene compliance in 2 adult step-down units (SDUs).
Design: A 6-month (from March to September 2007), controlled trial comparing 2 SDUs, one with a feedback intervention program (ie, the intervention unit) and one without (ie, the control unit).
Setting: Two 20-bed SDUs at a tertiary care private hospital.
Methods: Hand hygiene episodes were measured by electronic recording devices and periodic observational surveys. In the intervention unit, feedback was provided by the SDU nurse manager, who explained twice a week to the healthcare workers the goals and targets for the process measures.
Results: A total of 117,579 hand hygiene episodes were recorded in the intervention unit, and a total of 110,718 were recorded in the control unit (P = .63). There was no significant difference in the amount of chlorhexidine used in the intervention and control units (34.0 vs 26.7 L per 1,000 patient-days; P = .36) or the amount of alcohol gel used (72.5 vs 70.7 L per 1,000 patient-days; P = .93). However, in both units, healthcare workers used alcohol gel more frequently than chlorhexidine (143.2 vs 60.7 L per 1,000 patient-days; P < .001). Nosocomial infection rates in the intervention and control units, respectively, were as follows: for bloodstream infection, 3.5 and 0.79 infections per 1,000 catheter-days (P = .18); for urinary tract infection, 15.8 and 15.7 infections per 1,000 catheter-days (P = .99); and for tracheostomy-associated pneumonia, 10.7 and 5.1 infections per 1,000 device-days (P = .13). There were no cases of infection with vancomycin-resistant enterococci and only a single case of infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (in the control unit).
Conclusions: The feedback intervention regarding hand hygiene had no significant effect on the rate of compliance. Other measures must be used to increase and sustain the rate of hand hygiene compliance.