Handwashing Saves Lives: Reducing MRSA Rates

The Problem

MRSA accounts for more than 18,000 deaths annually nationwide, according to the CDC. The proportion of health care-associated staph infections due to MRSA has been increasing. In 1974, two percent of S. Aureus infections in U.S. intensive care units were MRSA. By 2004, that figure jumped to 64 percent. The most common mode of transmission is health care providers who don't wash their hands. At Novant, the MRSA infection rate was 0.54 per 1,000 patient days in 2005. Proper hand hygiene compliance was 49 percent.

The Solution

Novant Health initiated a system-wide hand hygiene program in 2004 after its executive committee chose compliance as a three-year corporate goal beginning in 2005. The target was 90 percent compliance. The major components of the campaign include internal and external marketing campaigns, staff education, the creation of two hand hygiene monitor positions, and department- and unit-level rapid-cycle improvement projects.