Hand-Washing Video May Cut Infection Rate

Having visitors to pediatric intensive care units watch a hand-washing video could help reduce hospital infection rates, found a study in Taiwan.

Researchers monitored visits by 123 families. Sixty-two families were shown posters illustrating hand-washing techniques and discussed the 10 key steps involved with staff, while 61 other families were shown a hand-washing video and took part in the same discussions with staff.

The groups, which included parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, were then observed during subsequent visits to the pediatric intensive care unit in Taiwan, which cares for about 30 children each month.

Both groups significantly improved their hand-washing behavior, but the video initiative proved much more effective, according to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Research has shown that hospital-acquired infections occur in about 10 percent of patients on general hospital wards, but that children on pediatric intensive care units have a 20 percent to 30 percent chance of becoming infected, Dr. Li-Chi Chiang, of the China Medical University in Taiwan, said in a statement.