IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0230573.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of hand hygiene compliance among nurses in US hospitals: A formative research study

Author

Listed:
  • Madeline Sands
  • Robert Aunger

Abstract

Hand hygiene is the simplest and most effective measure for preventing healthcare-associated infections. Despite the simplicity of this procedure and advances made in infection control, hospital health care workers’ compliance to hand hygiene recommendations is generally low. Nurses have the most frequent patient care interactions, and thus more opportunities to practice hand hygiene. As such, it is important to identify and understand determinants of nurses’ reported compliance. Formative research was undertaken to assess the potential impact of several unexamined factors that could influence HH among nurses: professional role and status, social affiliation, social norms, and physical modifications to the work environment (as well as institutional factors like safety climate). A survey questionnaire was developed primarily to inform the creation of a behaviour change intervention. The survey looked at how these factors influence HH among nurses and sought to identify barriers and levers to reported hand hygiene. It was administered to a survey panel of acute care nurses, working in US hospitals, with a year or more of experience. Multivariate regression modelling suggested that reported hand hygiene compliance was most likely to be a function of a hospital management’s communication openness, perceived performance by peers, increased interactions with patients and other staff members, and the reduction in stress, busyness, and cognitive load associated with role performance. A powerful, effective intervention on HH among nurses therefore could be directed at improving communication openness, consider the impact of perceived performance by peers, increase interactions with patients and staff, and determine how to reduce the stress and cognitive load associated with role performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeline Sands & Robert Aunger, 2020. "Determinants of hand hygiene compliance among nurses in US hospitals: A formative research study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-29, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0230573
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230573
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230573
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230573&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0230573?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mojtaba Vaismoradi & Sue Jordan & Mari Kangasniemi, 2015. "Patient participation in patient safety and nursing input – a systematic review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(5-6), pages 627-639, March.
    2. Elizabeth Goodrick & Trish Reay, 2010. "Florence Nightingale Endures: Legitimizing a New Professional Role Identity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 55-84, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Virginie Xhauflair & Benjamin Huybrechts & François Pichault, 2018. "How Can New Players Establish Themselves in Highly Institutionalized Labour Markets? A Belgian Case Study in the Area of Project†Based Work," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 370-394, June.
    2. O’Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Geoghegan, Will & Fitzgerald, Ciara, 2015. "University technology transfer offices: The search for identity to build legitimacy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 421-437.
    3. Mojtaba Vaismoradi & Flores Vizcaya-Moreno & Sue Jordan & Ingjerd Gåre Kymre & Mari Kangasniemi, 2020. "Disclosing and Reporting Practice Errors by Nurses in Residential Long-Term Care Settings: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Elise van Belle & Sandra M G Zwakhalen & Josien Caris & Ann Van Hecke & Getty Huisman‐de Waal & Maud Heinen, 2018. "Tailoring of the Tell‐us Card communication tool for nurses to increase patient participation using Intervention Mapping," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3-4), pages 621-630, February.
    5. Jimson Joseph Chumbula & Umoh, Edet O. (PhD) & Endra, Michael & Otosi, Okosienen & Anake, Monday & Nkanga, Dominic & Unwana, Udomoh & Usani, Patrick & Ejoh, Vincent & Amu, Denis, 2020. "Patients’ Relative Satisfaction with Nursing Care: A Case Study of Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 4(12), pages 163-172, December.
    6. Fischer, Eileen & Rebecca Reuber, A., 2014. "Online entrepreneurial communication: Mitigating uncertainty and increasing differentiation via Twitter," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 565-583.
    7. Beatriz Vallina Acha & Estrella Durá Ferrandis & Mireia Ferri Sanz & Maite Ferrando García, 2021. "Engaging People and Co-Producing Research with Persons and Communities to Foster Person-Centred Care: A Meta-Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-25, November.
    8. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Edgley, Carla & Robson, Keith & Sharma, Nina, 2022. "Organizational responses to multiple logics: Diversity, identity and the professional service firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    9. Daniel Muzio & David M. Brock & Roy Suddaby, 2013. "Professions and Institutional Change: Towards an Institutionalist Sociology of the Professions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5), pages 699-721, July.
    10. O'Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Zhang, Jing A. & Cunningham, James A., 2020. "How university-based principal investigators shape a hybrid role identity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    11. Patriotta, Gerardo & Spedale, Simona, 2011. "Micro-interaction dynamics in group decision making: Face games, interaction order and boundary work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 362-374.
    12. Mai Chi Vu & Hyemi Shin & Nicholas Burton, 2024. "“We are Neither Commies nor Volunteers”: How National Culture Influences Professional Identity Construction of CSR Professionals in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 195-213, April.
    13. Penny Dick, 2015. "To See Ourselves As Others See Us? Incorporating the Constraining Role of Socio-Cultural Practices in the Theorization of Micropolitical Resistance," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 16-35, January.
    14. Slade Shantz, Angelique & Kistruck, Geoffrey & Zietsma, Charlene, 2018. "The opportunity not taken: The occupational identity of entrepreneurs in contexts of poverty," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 416-437.
    15. Elizabeth Goodrick & Lee C. Jarvis & Trish Reay, 2020. "Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in Discursive Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 735-774, June.
    16. Conor O'Kane & Vincent Mangematin & Will Geoghegan & Ciara Fitzgerald, 2015. "University Technology Transfer offices : the search for identity to build legimacy," Post-Print hal-01072998, HAL.
    17. Graeme Currie & Charlotte Croft, 2015. "Examining hybrid nurse managers as a case of identity transition in healthcare: developing a balanced research agenda," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 855-865, October.
    18. Anne Clancy & Marianne Mahler, 2016. "Nursing staffs’ attentiveness to older adults falling in residential care – an interview study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(9-10), pages 1405-1415, May.
    19. Lindström, Sara, 2016. "‘An army of our own’: Legitimating the professional position of HR through well-being at work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 189-196.
    20. Styhre, Alexander & Szczepanska, Anna Maria & Remneland-Wikhamn, Björn, 2018. "Consecrating video games as cultural artifacts: Intellectual legitimation as a source of industry renewal," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 22-28.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0230573. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.