The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends indicators to measure improvement in adherence to hand-hygiene guidelines.
CDC’s Hand-Hygiene Performance Indicators
January 1, 2003
CDC’s Hand-Hygiene Performance Indicators
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends these indicators to measure improvement in adherence to hand-hygiene guidelines:
- Periodically monitor and record adherence as the number of hand-hygiene episodes performed by personnel/number of hand-hygiene opportunities, by ward or by service. Provide feedback to personnel regarding their performance.
- Monitor the volume of alcohol-based hand rub (or detergent used for hand washing or hand antisepsis) used per 1,000 patient days.
- Monitor adherence to policies dealing with wearing artificial nails.
- When outbreaks of infection occur, assess the adequacy of health care worker hand hygiene.
Source: Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings. Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. Atlanta; 2002.