Effect of individual feedback on hand hygiene compliance in nursing homes

Hand hygiene (HH) among healthcare workers (HCWs) is important to prevent infections in nursing homes. This study investigated the effect of providing HCWs with weekly feedback on individual hand hygiene compliance (HHC). A six-month quasi-experimental study (09-2021 to 05-2022) was conducted in two nursing homes (9 wards) in Denmark. During the intervention period (3 months), a weekly email with individualized HHC data was sent to HCWs who volunteered to receive individual feedback. HHC was monitored with an automatic hand hygiene monitoring system (AHHMS). A total of 198 nurses and nurse assistants were enrolled. Sixty-seven signed up for the weekly email with individual HHC data (cluster: “Individual feedback”), and 131 HCWs did not sign up for the intervention (cluster: “No individual feedback”). The AHHMS registered more than 144,000 HH opportunities from residential apartments. We found a mean difference in baseline HHC between the two clusters (44% vs 52%) of +8 percentage points (95% CI: 6, 10). Overall, the study found no improvements in HHC from baseline compared to the intervention in the cluster receiving individual feedback (52% vs 52%, p=0.8). Data suggest that providing HCWs with individual feedback on HHC data as a single intervention does not impact the HHC rates. The authors speculate that obtaining improvements in HHC demands a more intensive approach to the intervention. There was no effect of individual feedback on HHC in nursing homes.