Authors: Tjaša MLAKAR, Andreja MIHELIČ ZAJEC, Mojca JEVŠNIK
Corresponding author: Mojca JEVŠNIK
Type of paper: Original scientific article
Issue: Volume 11 | number 1 – 2017
Abstract:
The prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections are one of the most important indicators of quality in healthcare institutions and their employees. For this purpose, experts in this field are attempting to find improvements; one of them is called “nudging”. This study aims to present the importance of providing hand hygiene quality in nurses and to analyse the effectiveness of a selected nudging tool in practice. An observation checklist was made to evaluate nurses in a selected nursing home in Ljubljana. Based on data analysis, a picture of male eyes as hygiene promotion and how it affects the change in hygiene compliance of the nurses was tested. After a change in the environment, hand hygiene improved; the greatest improvement was seen prior to the preparation of devices for personal hygiene, before the procedure, after washing the patient’s face, body, back and hands, after washing the feet, and after the whole procedure was completed. With the use of behavioural theories, better hand hygiene compliance can be achieved. It can be concluded that nudging may help us prevent and control healthcare-associated infections and provide a higher quality of life for residents and, consequentially, improve the quality of nursing care.
