Major ArticlesUse of alcohol hand sanitizer as an infection control strategy in an acute care facility*
Section snippets
Facility description
This study was performed in a 498-bed acute care facility with 1700 employees. The facility occupies a 6-story main building with 2-story wings. The first floor of the main building houses the offices; cafeteria; central supply; laboratory; the surgery, dialysis, emergency, radiology, medical records, and endoscopy departments; and the surgical intensive care unit. Average daily census is 300, and the infection control practitioner-to-patient ratio is 1:300.
Study design
This study was performed in the
Infection rates
The primary infection types (more than 80%) found were UTIs and SSIs. Comparison of the infection types and rates for the unit when the alcohol hand sanitizer (intervention) was used were compared with infection types and rates on the same unit when the alcohol hand sanitizer was not used (baseline); a 36.1% decrease in infection rates was demontrated during the 10-month period when the hand sanitizer was used. The infection data by month for the baseline and hand sanitizer period are provided
Discussion
Hand hygiene is considered to be the most important and effective infection control measure to prevent transmission of nosocomial pathogens in health care settings. The results of hospital-based studies, published between 1977 and 1995, on the impact of hand hygiene on the risk of nosocomial infection have been reviewed by Larson.17 However, compliance with handwashing procedures by health care workers has been, and continues to be, unacceptably low.2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 Because of the importance
Conclusion
The continued emergence and control difficulties with multidrug-resistant pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant S aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing gram-negative bacilli, are major problems in acute care and long-term care facilities alike. Alcohol hand sanitizers have the greatest antimicrobial efficacy and speed of kill against these resistant pathogens and help improve compliance because they are convenient, quick to use, and gentle on
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