GP PRO promotes systems-based approach to strengthen hand hygiene compliance
Infection prevention expert says stronger infrastructure, rather than behavior management alone, is essential to improving compliance
GP PRO is encouraging healthcare organizations to rethink how they approach hand hygiene compliance, emphasizing that sustainable improvements depend not only on individual behavior but also on the systems that support healthcare professionals.
In a recent interview, GP PRO’s Ronnie Phillips, Ph.D., spoke with infection prevention expert Missy Travis, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, about the challenges surrounding hand hygiene compliance and the industry’s evolving perspective on infection prevention.
Opening the discussion, Phillips highlighted the importance of focusing on organizational support rather than solely on individual actions, stating, “Sometimes the biggest opportunity to improve hand hygiene isn’t changing people, it’s improving the systems that support them.”
According to Travis, infection prevention has traditionally focused on changing individual behavior. “And I think what we think of first off in infection prevention is behavior management. And that’s where we tend to go first is people and can we change their behavior,” she said.
However, she noted that this mindset has evolved in recent years. “But in recent years, I think we’ve started to shift the thinking of looking more at the system for hand hygiene. Do we have the system to support compliance with hand hygiene?” Travis explained, stressing that organizations should evaluate whether they have the appropriate infrastructure in place before expecting higher compliance rates.
She added that the absence of adequate systems can make it difficult for healthcare workers to consistently follow hand hygiene protocols. “Because if you don’t have a system in place, you’re asking people to do something, but you haven’t provided the infrastructure, you’re making it hard for them to comply.”
Rather than concentrating efforts exclusively on changing individual behavior, Travis believes organizations should prioritize improvements that are within their control. “And so shifting that focus more to looking at what we can control which is the system. Rather than looking specifically at a person or at a behavior,” she concluded.
The discussion reinforces a growing trend in infection prevention that recognizes effective hand hygiene as the result of well-designed systems, accessible infrastructure and organizational support, rather than relying solely on behavioral interventions.
