Abstract
Background Numerous interventions have tried to improve healthcare workers’ hand hygiene compliance, however little attention has been paid to children’s and their visitors’ compliance.
Aim To increase children’s and visitors’ compliance using interactive educational interventions.
Methods This was an observational study of hand hygiene compliance before and after the introduction of educational interventions. Qualitative data in the form of Questionnaires and interviews was obtained.
Findings Hand hygiene compliance increased by 21.4% (P <0.001) following the educational interventions, with children’s compliance reaching 40.8% and visitors’ being 50.8%. Compliance varied depending on which of the five moments of hygiene was observed (P<0.001), with the highest compliance after body fluid exposure (96%). Responses from questionnaires showed educational interventions raised awareness of the importance of hand hygiene (69%, 57%) compared to those who had not experienced the educational intervention (50%).
Conclusion Educational interventions may result in a significant increase in children’s and visitors’ hand hygiene (P <0.001).
Footnotes
Sources of funding: This work was supported by the University of Nottingham [grant number KT86]; East Midlands Development Agency [grant number HIRF 502]; and Saudi Arabian Government [grant number DLary1].