Improvement of hand hygiene compliance among health professional staff of Neonatology Department in Nyamata Hospital

Purpose The purpose of this study is to improve the hand hygiene compliance in a hospital in Rwanda. Hand hygiene is a fundamental routine practice that can greatly reduce risk of hospital-acquired infections; however, hand hygiene compliance in the hospital was low. Design/methodology/approach A multiple-strategy intervention was implemented with a focus on ensuring stable water supply was available through installing mobile hand hygiene facilities. Findings The intervention significantly increased the overall hand hygiene compliance rate by 35 per cent. The compliance for all of the five hand hygiene moments and all professions also significantly increased. Practical implications By implementing an intervention that involved multiple strategies to address the root causes of the problem, this quality improvement project successfully created an enabling environment to increase hand hygiene compliance. The hospital should encourage using the strategic problem-solving method to conduct more quality improvement projects in other departments. Originality/value Findings from this study may be useful for hospitals in similar settings seeking to improve hand hygiene compliance

Compliance (psychology · Hygiene · Intervention (counseling · Medical emergency · Neonatology · Operations management · Quality (philosophy · Quality management · Antibiotic Use and Resistance · Engineering · Food Safety and Hygiene · Infection Control in Healthcare · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology