Feedback Boosts Handwashing Rates

Doctors are more likely to wash their hands properly when they know someone is watching. Researchers at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, installed video cameras in the intensive care unit in 2008. The cameras were focused on sinks and sanitizer dispensers. Motion sensors in every doorway noted when a health professional entered a patient’s room. If the doctor or nurse washed up within 10 seconds of entering and before they left, they got a passing grade. If they did not wash within that time frame, they were given a failing grade.
At the beginning of the study, fewer than 7 percent of the health workers washed their hands immediately upon entering a patient’s room and just before departing. Once the cameras were active and results were posted on electronic boards in the hallways, compliance with hand washing rose dramatically to over 80 percent.

[Clinical Infectious Diseases, online, Nov. 21, 2011]