Hand Hygiene Before Non-sterile Glove Use

University of Maryland, Baltimore230 enrolled

Overview

The importance of healthcare worker hand hygiene in decreasing bacterial transmission between patients is well documented. Healthcare workers may don non-sterile gloves in routine care of patients, particularly for those patients known or suspected to harbor epidemiologically important microorganisms. Governing bodies currently recommend performing hand hygiene prior to donning gloves and after glove removal. The importance of hand hygiene post glove removal is well shown, however few studies exist to show utility of hand hygiene prior to donning gloves. In fact, data suggests that glove use is an impediment to hand hygiene and may reduce compliance with hand washing. In light of this and the fact that no evidence exists that washing hands BEFORE glove use is important, the aim of the study is to asses the utility of routine hand hygiene prior to donning non-sterile gloves before a patient contact.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

230

Conditions

Hand Hygiene

Interventions

In the "No Intervention" arm, healthcare workers will be assigned to first perform hand hygiene before donning non-sterile gloves prior to patient contact (usual practice). Samples will be obtained from hands prior to donning gloves and from the gloves after donning to determine total aerobic colony counts and to identify important hospital pathogens In the Experimental arm, they will be instructed to don gloves without washing their hands as described.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Healthcare worker engaging in direct patient contact on Contact Precautions (e.g. expected glove use) * \>= 18 years of age Exclusion Criteria: * Visibly soiled hands requiring hand washing (cannot randomize) * Non-compliance with glove use as indicated for care of patient on Contact Precautions

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Difference in Total Aerobic Colony Counts

The Difference in Total Aerobic Colony Counts from hands at baseline (Group 1, prior to Hand Hygiene; Group 2, prior to donning gloves) to gloves after donning

Time frame: The total time of participation from the healthcare worker will be approximately 2-3 minutes, the time needed to perform hand hygiene and don gloves (group 1) or don gloves (group 2).

Secondary Outcomes

Pathogen Identification

Gloves will be sampled from both groups after donning and evaluation for important hospital pathogens will be performed