Effect of infection control team-led intervention to promote compliance with hand hygiene practices in ward pharmacists

Hand hygiene is the most effective preventive measure against the spread of nosocomial infections. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens can be transmitted to patients through the hands of healthcare workers. Thus, strict adherence to hand-hygiene practices should be encouraged. Pharmacists’ compliance with hand-hygiene practices are lower than that of other healthcare workers, such as nurses and physicians. This study evaluated the effect of an infection-control team-led intervention for hand-hygiene compliance among ward pharmacists. In September 2018, ward pharmacists started carrying portable alcohol-based hand sanitizers that could be used immediately anywhere within the hospital. In January 2020, a training session, particularly on threat of antimicrobial resistance, aim of hand hygiene, and four key indications for hand hygiene—“After Room In, Before Room Out, Before ”—was developed by the infection-control team for the ward pharmacists to improve their compliance with hand-hygiene practices. The pre-training and post-training evaluations of the ward pharmacists, who were unaware of the assessment, were undertaken in December 2019 and February 2020, respectively, by trained pharmacy students who directly observed hand-hygiene compliance, and the compliance rates significantly improved for “After Room In, Before Room Out, and Before Touching a Clean Area” (62% vs. 95%, p < 0.001; 64% vs. 95%, p < 0.001; and 0% vs. 35%, p < 0.001, respectively). Regular direct observations by infection-control link nurses continued during the study period, and ascertained a significant improvement in compliance from 35.4% to 78.2% between July 2018 and January 2021 (p < 0.001). Thus, targeted interventions may contribute to induce better compliance with hand-hygiene practices by pharmacists.