AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► An evaluation of hand hygiene in an intensive care unit: are visitors a potential vector for pathogens?

AHRQ Patient Safety Network





An evaluation of hand hygiene in an intensive care unit: are visitors a potential vector for pathogens?

Birnbach DJ, Rosen LF, Fitzpatrick M, Arheart KL, Munoz-Price LS. J Infect Public Health. 2015 Jun 6; [Epub ahead of print].

Major efforts have focused on improving hospital employee hand hygiene as a way to decrease the spread of disease to hospitalized patients. This observational study found more than 60% of visitors to an intensive care unit did not disinfect their hands prior to entering a patient's room, with some carrying bacteria that could be dangerous for critically ill patients.

PubMed citation 
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