title: Assessment of hand hygiene techniques using the World Health Organization's six steps.
abstract: The quality of hand hygiene was evaluated via direct observation for compliance with the six recommended World Health Organization steps. A total of 2497 HH opportunities, of which 1573 (63.0%) were hand rubs, were monitored over a five month period. Compliance was higher in nurses compared with physicians and auxiliaries and in steps 1 and 2 for hand rubs as well as the first three steps of hand washing, with lower rates after these steps. Rubbing of the thumbs and fingertips achieved the lowest rates of compliance in both HH types. A combination of the five recommended moments and six steps and staff education is recommended to improve the quality of hand hygiene.
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Department, TCH Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: Aarias@hamad.qa.
authors.forename: Ariadna V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Department, TCH Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: Hgarcell@hamad.qa.
authors.forename: Humberto G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Garcell
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, TCH Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: Yochoa@hamad.qa.
authors.forename: Yagdeline R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Ochoa
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, TCH Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: Karias@hamad.qa.
authors.forename: Katiana F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, TCH Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: Fmiranda@hamad.qa.
authors.forename: Fernando R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Miranda
mesh_terms: D019983:Guideline Adherence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D063373:Hand Hygiene / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses; D010820:Physicians; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: Hand hygiene; Medical staff; Technique; WHO six steps