Efforts to Raise Awareness of Hand Hygiene among Ward Pharmacists

Abstract

Ward pharmacists have many opportunities to come in contact with patients; therefore, the implementation of appropriate infection control is very important. We made efforts to raise awareness of hand hygiene among ward pharmacists using visual ways such as a fluorescent paint and a survey on bacterial contamination of hands and evaluated the utility based on the results of alcohol-based hand rub usage and a questionnaire survey. Ward pharmacists could recognize that they touch many places when contacting patients using the fluorescent paint; also, they could recognize the effect and importance of hand hygiene from the survey on bacterial contamination. At the time of drug administration guidance, the average usage per month of an alcohol-based hand rub significantly increased from 125 mL to 325 mL and the rate of hand hygiene significantly increased from 25.0% to 63.3%. Furthermore, all ward pharmacists answered that they were able to maintain hand hygiene before and after contacting patients. This study suggests that educational activities using visual ways are effective in raising awareness of hand hygiene among ward pharmacists.