Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021 Apr 23:1-5. doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.1422. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a hospital-wide universal gloving program resulted in increased hand hygiene compliance and reduced inpatient Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) rates.
DESIGN: We carried out a multiple-year before-and-after quasi-experimental quality improvement study. Gloving and hand hygiene compliance data as well as hospital-acquired infection rates were prospectively collected from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017, by secret monitors.
SETTINGS: The University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital, an 849-bed quaternary-care teaching hospital.
PATIENTS: All adult inpatients with the exception of patients in the obstetrics unit.
INTERVENTIONS: A hospital-wide universal gloving protocol was initiated on January 1, 2016.
RESULTS: Hand hygiene compliance increased from 68% in 2015 reaching an average of 88% by 2017 (P < .0002). A 10% increase in gloving per unit was associated with a 1.13-fold increase in the odds of hand hygiene (95% credible interval, 1.12-1.14). The rates of CDI decreased from 1.05 infections per 1,000 patient days in 2015 to 0.74 in 2017 (P < .04).
CONCLUSION: A universal gloving initiative was associated with a statistically significant increase in both gloving and hand hygiene compliance. CDI rates decreased during this intervention.
PMID:33888164 | DOI:10.1017/ice.2020.1422