title: Point-of-care hand hygiene: preventing infection behind the curtain.
abstract: Best practices for hand hygiene provide indications for performance of hand hygiene at specific points in time during patient care. For hand hygiene to prevent infections, hand hygiene resources must be readily available to health care workers whenever required. This article reviews practices and recommendations intended to facilitate hand hygiene behavior at the point of care (POC) within the health care setting. Key aspects of POC hand hygiene include the provision of alcohol-based hand rub products, integration of dispensing solutions within the patient zone, consideration of patient care workflow, and dispenser designs that optimize acceptance and usage.
authors.affiliation: University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. anson.kendall@uhn.ca
authors.forename: Anson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Landers
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000592:standards*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000592:standards*; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005791:Patient Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local