A hand hygiene joint project between the Department of Veterans Affairs and 3M produced a number of valuable tools that used the Six Sigma process, including a free, downloadable questionnaire for measuring local perceptions and attitudes regarding hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
Download the hand hygiene questionnaire developed for the VA-3M Six Sigma project by clicking here (doc) and adapt it for use in your facility.
If you are going to use the questionnaire in your facility, here are some points VA suggests you consider:
- If you are going to observe the quantity of alcohol-based hand rub used, it's best to do the observations before distributing the questionnaire.
- The questionnaire has the potential to raise awareness, thus making your baseline observed level of hand hygiene compliance higher than it was prior to issuing the questionnaire.
- Another interesting point is that during the project and in other published studies, a large disconnect between the self-reported compliance and the observed compliance was noted.
- People don't seem to realize hand hygiene opportunities are being missed. For example, before and after patient contact or after removing gloves.
Source: VA
Note: View our database providing 85-plus reports that link to free, downloadable and adaptable tools for use in surgery centers, hospitals and other organizations by clicking here.
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