Novel hand hygiene promotion method in a pediatric and maternity hospital: A quality improvement pilot project using auditory feedback

Abstract

A pilot quality improvement project was conducted to examine the effect of playing an applause sound effect at a busy hospital concourse for three consecutive days whenever hand hygiene behavior was observed. The immediate effect was documented. The project demonstrated observable interest among people passing by, and hand hygiene events triggered by the sound effect represented 10.1% of all hand hygiene events documented. This supports the possible utility of this intervention in generating public awareness and increasing hand hygiene behavior and demonstrates the feasibility of a longer trial utilizing audio devices.