Journal
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
Volume 66, Issue 1, Pages 34-39Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2007.02.018
Keywords
hand hygiene; alcohol gel; soap; critical care; feedback; audit; electronic surveillance
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We describe a battery-powered recording device incorporating a force-sensitive resistor and a microcontroller that records depressions of wall-mounted soap and alcohol get dispensers. The device has a two-second (2 s) lockout built into it, so that a single record is associated with a single hand-hygiene episode. Recorders were implanted within the watt-mounted dispensers found in two bed areas and the entrance of a 16-bedded intensive care unit. The use of the bed area dispensers was correlated (r) with the dependency of the patient in the open bed area (r = 0.5, P < 0.01), as assessed using the UK Department of Health critical care minimum data set. Both bed areas and the entrance dispensers showed wide but different fluctuations in use throughout the 24 h day. The recording device may help in feedback about soap and get use for hand-hygiene quality improvement and educational initiatives. (C) 2007 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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