Authors: (including presenting author): :
SHIU WY, MAK YT, Li Y, TSUI LK, LI YK, LEUNG SK, WAN OM
Affiliation: :
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, United Christian Hospital
Keyword 1: :
hand hygiene
Keyword 2: :
staff engagement
Introduction: :
Hand hygiene is widely recognized as the most important way to prevent infections in healthcare settings, especially in maternity wards where the immature immune systems of infants make the environment highly vulnerable. To address a recent decrease in hand hygiene compliance within the maternity ward, which dropped to 91% in 1Q 2025, below the hospital's overall 96-97% compliance rate, this initiative focuses on engaging staff and rising staff awareness on hand hygiene, as well as fostering a proactive staff-led safety culture.
Objectives: :
To enhance hand hygiene compliance through the proactive engagement of frontline staff.
Methodology: :
The initiative started from establishing a staff-led hand hygiene team to guide implementation, monitoring and allowing peers to offer informal soft reminders that create a supportive atmosphere. Training is one of the collaborative strategies for which the team is responsible to ensure all staff members, particularly the newcomers, are adequately trained.
The model of collaborative ownership fosters a greater sense of responsibility, which inspires and motivates staff to develop a multilingual audio broadcast system. To enhance effect, the audio broadcast is strategically scheduled, especially before mealtimes and during visiting hours. The team is also responsible to conduct and monitor the monthly compliance audits and provide individualized feedback, that cultivate a culture of continuous, real-time peer evaluation and shared accountability. Reviews of interventions were conducted to maintain the high compliance and awareness of hand hygiene.
Result & Outcome: :
These engagement strategies empowered staff and showed positive correlation with increased compliance. Staff-led initiatives have resulted in significant improvements, as demonstrated by the increase in hand hygiene compliance rate from 91% in the first quarter (1Q) to 99% in the third quarter (3Q) of 2025.
The active participation of frontline staff is critical to the success of hand hygiene initiatives. Hand hygiene can be effectively promoted by fostering a sense of accountability within the staff. Clinical quality and safety enhance when each team member maintains a personal sense of accountability and is empowered to implement improvements directly.
