[A multimodal strategy to improve adherence to hand hygiene in a university hospital]

[Evolution of adherence to hand hygiene in health care professionals in a third level hospital in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic]

OBJECTIVE

Proper hand hygiene is the main measure in the prevention and control of infection associated with healthcare. It describes how the pandemic period of 2020 has influenced the evolution of the degree of compliance with hand hygiene practices in health professionals at the Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria with respect to previous years.

METHODS

Descriptive cross-sectional study of direct observation on compliance with the five moments of hand hygiene in the 2018-2020 period. Adherence is described with the frequency distribution of the different moments in which it was indicated.

RESULTS

Total adherence has increased from 42.5% in 2018, to 47.6% in 2019, and 59.2% in 2020 (p <0.05). Total adherence was greater in the moments after contact with the patient (67%) than in the moments before contact (48%). The area with the highest adherence was dialysis (83%). There is a greater adherence in open areas than in hospitalization areas (65% vs 56%). Higher adherence was determined in physicians (73%) and nurses (74%), than in nursing assistants (50%) (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In 2020 there was an increase in adherence to hand hygiene compared to previous years. A higher percentage of adherence was determined in physicians and nurses than in nursing assistants. We consider that the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has played a relevant role in this increase in adherence.

Efficacy of the multimodal strategy for Hand Hygiene compliance: an integrative review

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate, from the literature, the effectiveness of the implementation of the multimodal strategy for health professionals compliance with Hand Hygiene and its sustainability over time.

METHOD

Integrative review, with a view to answering the following question: "Is the implementation of the multimodal strategy effective in health professionals compliance with Hand Hygiene and can it be sustained over time?". The MEDLINE, SCOPUS, LILACS and CINAHL databases were used to retrieve the primary articles.

RESULTS

Twenty-five studies were analyzed. Among the components of the multimodal strategy, three need to be better worked: health education, feedback from practices and management involvement. Although it needs to focus more on its five elements, interventions based on the multimodal strategy have favored HH compliance and its long-term sustainability.

CONCLUSION

The strategy proved to be effective for HH compliance, especially when all integrating components are adequately addressed.

[Implementing evidence and implementation research: two different and prime realities]

Scientific research can contribute to more efficient health care, enhance care quality and safety of persons. In order for this to happen, the knowledge gained must be put into practice. Implementation is known as the introduction of a change or innovation to daily practice, which requires effective communication and the elimination of barriers that hinder this process. Best practice implementation experiences are being used increasingly in the field of nursing. The difficulty in identifying the factors that indicate the success or failure of implementation has led to increased studies to build a body of differentiated knowledge, recognized as implementation science or implementation research. Implementation research is the scientific study whose objective is the adoption and systematic incorporation of research findings into clinical practice to improve the quality and efficiency of health services. The purpose of implementation research is to improve the health of the population through equitable and effective implementation of rigorously evaluated scientific knowledge, which involves gathering the evidence that has a positive impact on the health of the community. In this text, we set out the characteristics of nursing implementation research, providing a synthesis of different methods, theories, key frameworks and implementation strategies, along with the terminology proposed for greater conceptual clarity.