The ability of healthcare workers to learn proper hand hygiene has been an understudied
area of research. Generally, hand hygiene skills are regarded as a key contributor
to reduce critical infections and healthcare-associated infections. In a clinical
setup, at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the outcome of a multi-modal training
initiative was recorded, where objective feedback was provided to the staff. It was
hypothesized that staff at the NICU are more sensitive towards applying increased
patient safety measures. Outcomes were recorded as the ability to cover all hand surfaces
with Alcohol-Based Handrub (ABHR), modelled as a time-series of measurements. The
learning ability to rub in with 1.5 mL and with 3 mL was also assessed. As a secondary
outcome, handrub consumption and infection numbers were recorded. It has been observed
that some staff members were able to quickly learn the proper hand hygiene, even with
the limited 1.5 mL, while others were not capable of acquiring the technique even
with 3 mL. When analyzing the 1.5 mL group, it was deemed an insufficient ABHR amount,
while with 3 mL, the critical necessity of skill training to achieve complete coverage
was documented. Identifying these individuals helps the infection control staff to
better focus their training efforts. The training led to a 157% increase in handrub
consumption. The setting of the study did not allow to show a measurable reduction
in the number of hospital infections. It has been concluded that the training method
chosen by the staff greatly affects the quality of the outcomes.
