Institute for Healthcare Improvement
(in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, and the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
The purpose of this How-to Guide is to help organizations reduce healthcare-associated infections, including infections due to antibiotic-resistant organisms, by improving hand hygiene practices and use of gloves among health care workers.
The guide includes:
- A description of the case for improving hand hygiene and use of gloves among health care workers
- Recommended evidence-based interventions that will result in improvement
- How to begin improving hand hygiene compliance in your organization, including establishing a team, setting aims, testing changes, and measuring results
- Measurement support tools
Background
This guide was prepared in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and has been endorsed by APIC and SHEA. Valuable input also was provided by the World Health Organization's World Alliance for Patient Safety through the Global Patient Safety Challenge.