Promoting alcohol-based hand sanitizers to patients and their families on a pediatric unit: Partnerships to enhance compliance with hand hygiene

BACKGROUND: The importance of hand hygiene in preventing the transmission of infectious agents is well established. It is also known that families of pediatric patients are closely involved in the care of their hospitalized children. We used this unique relationship to introduce a program to promote hand hygiene to patients and their families in our pediatric unit. METHODS: Alcohol-based hand sanitizers were provided to patients and their families upon admission to the hospital in conjunction with an informational brochure that explains the importance of hand hygiene. Child life specialists included this task as part of their routine admission-needs assessment. They provided a brief demonstration on the proper application of the product with emphasis on the importance of hand hygiene. To assess the effectiveness of this program, families were requested to fill out a brief survey. This survey was included in a packet given to all patients upon discharge. Sixty-one surveys were returned during the first 3 months of this program, which constituted a 20.4% return rate. RESULTS: The majority (95%) of respondents agreed that providing the alcohol-based hand sanitizer was acceptable and useful. There was also general agreement (87%) amongst the respondents that indicated providing this product increased their awareness. More importantly, 82% stated that this might affect their practice outside the hospital whereas, 87% agreed that this program made them observe hand hygiene practices of clinicians. Furthermore, 90% felt that the healthcare facility values hand hygiene practices. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented here indicates strong support for this hand hygiene program. Not surprisingly, parents of pediatric patients felt that the organization strongly supports infection control practices. The results of this survey suggest that involving patients and their families may be beneficial in supporting hand hygiene practices in healthcare settings.