Usefulness of Training in Hand Hygiene Using the Full-Hand Touch Plate Method for Hospital Staff —Practice at a Psychiatric Hospital—

Abstract

  This study investigated the usefulness of training in hand hygiene using the full-hand touch plate method for psychiatric hospital staff. A total of 42 staff members working in a psychiatric hospital underwent hand hygiene training (3 hours in total for 2 days) using the full-hand touch plate method and group discussion. A self-completed questionnaire was given regarding hand hygiene before and after the training, and 16 (38.1%) participants provided completed questionnaires with effective answers. These participants included nurses (81.3%), kitchen staff (12.5%), and psychiatric social worker (6.3%). The perception of participants that hand hygiene is important was significantly higher after the training (p=0.02). Among the key moments for hand hygiene described in “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” of the WHO, the perceived importance of hand hygiene “before touching a patient” and “after touching the surroundings of a patient” was significantly higher after the training (p=0.002). After the training, 87.5% of the participants felt that they had learned about the state of hand contamination before hand washing. In the hospital, the overall amounts of liquid soap and hand antiseptics used per 1,000 patient days were 6.3 and 0.3 L, respectively, in 2011. In contrast, the amounts had increased to 17.9 and 0.5 L, respectively, in the year of the training. Our findings suggest that hand hygiene training using the full-hand touch plate method for psychiatric hospital staff is effective to promote awareness of the importance of hand hygiene, and to encourage appropriate use of liquid soap and hand antiseptics.