title: Assessment of hand hygiene resources and practices at the 2 children's hospitals in Greece.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hand hygiene (HH) is the most effective way to prevent health care-associated infections and the spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The aim of our study was to assess the existing HH resources and current HH practices at 2 hospitals in Athens, Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational HH data and an inventory of HH resources were collected from 13 wards including medical/surgical, oncology/transplant and intensive care units, during 65, 1-hour observations periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1271 HH opportunities were observed during the study period, including 944 of Health Care Workers (HCW) and 327 of visitors and parents. The nursing HH compliance was highest (49%) followed by medical compliance (24%, P < 0.001). HCW HH compliance was highest in intensive care units and the transplant unit (64-87%). The rate of appropriate HH for HCW was 22.6%. HCW most commonly used soap and water (76.1%). The HH procedure was more likely to be appropriate when soap and water were used as compared with alcohol based hand rub (64.6% and 47.5%, P = 0.006). A marginally significant association was identified between the HH compliance rate and the number of alcohol based hand rub dispensers per room (P = 0.057). In visitors and parents, the HH compliance was found to be 19%, whereas the rate of appropriate HH was 8.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low levels of HH were observed.
authors.affiliation: From the *The Stavros Niarchos Foundation-Collaborative Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), University of Athens School of Medicine; †Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; ‡Second Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens, Aglaia Kuriakou Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece; and §Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, UPENN School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kouni
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kourlaba
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mougkou
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maroudi
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chavela
authors.forename: Chara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nteli
authors.forename: Athanasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lourida
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Spyridis
authors.forename: Theoklis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zaoutis
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coffin
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006115:Greece; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D063373:Hand Hygiene / Q000379:methods*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans