Patient Awareness of Practicing Hand Hygiene: An Intervention for Hospitalized Oncology Patients

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Advisor: Kathryn Kash, MD-Thomas Jefferson University.


Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. They are responsible for nearly 2 million unnecessary infections and billions in excess medical costs. Transmission of nosocomial infections was found to most often occur through contamination of unclean hands. Therefore, proper hand hygiene is a primary preventive measure of HAIs. Most current research focuses on hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers. Patient awareness and compliance is an area of underdeveloped research. The goal of this pilot study is to assess patient awareness of hand hygiene. To complete this objective, a survey was developed to evaluate the efficacy of the CDC Hand Hygiene Saves Lives video. TJUH oncology patients, who agreed to participate, all received an initial survey and were randomized to either view the video or not view the video. Twenty-four hours later a second survey was completed by all participants again. The sample was characterized in terms of age, gender, and the 11 items on the survey; assessing knowledge of hand washing in the hospital and comfort asking providers about hand washing. The purpose was to compare pre and post surveys of those who viewed the video and those who did not view it. There were 17 patients in non-video group (12 female, 5 male) and 13 in the video group (9 female, 4 male). Ages ranged from 28 to 74 years with a Mean of 54. In both groups, overall mean scores increased between the pre and post tests (327 to 350). There was a greater difference in total mean score in the group that watched the video (M = 38) than the group that did not watch it (M=7). This was a small pilot study and results are not statistically significant. Future research should include a larger sample of patients.