Hand Hygiene in the Emergency Department

This study investigated the rate of hand hygiene compliance among health care providers in a rural Pennsylvania emergency department. Hand hygiene is well studied in healthcare but few studies were related to the emergency department. This study sought to answer the following questions. How compliant with hand hygiene are healthcare workers in the emergency room setting? Is there a difference in hand hygiene compliance rates between entering and exiting a patient's room? How often is hand sanitizer used versus soap and water for hand hygiene? During the study, Healthcare providers were observed entering and exiting a patient's room, results of hand hygiene compliance were recorded as well as if the provider used soap and water or hand sanitizer. Overall 56% of providers were compliant with hand sanitizer being used more often. The results also revealed that 27% of the healthcare providers were completely non-compliant with hand hygiene.