Background: Hand washing is the number one practice by nurses that can prevent the spread of infection. Proper hand washing and the understanding of this responsibility can improve patient care. The Joint Commission reported an overall 36% compliance in hand hygiene over the last three decades. The issue that every nurse is aware of the fact that hand washing it the most important intervention, but continues to dismiss this practice time after time. Evidence Based Framework: The formation of the project has been based on the Steven’s Ace Star Model. Through this framework, the problem has been identified, explored and an intervention has been chosen to create improvements through evidence based practice (EBP). Nightingale’s Environmental theory has been connected to this project to support the need for proper hand hygiene. Methods: Effort was made to increase compliance in hand hygiene, and implement evidence-based education to improve hand hygiene among nurses and other health care workers. With this effort, there has been a proposed plan for sustainability by continuing to employ frequent hand hygiene trainings at the health care facility. Findings: Findings reported from Infection Control reported an overall increase in awareness of proper hand hygiene. By using participants from the in service to monitor hand hygiene among nurses, new understand of proper hand hygiene was reported. More through grading was done and an increase in awareness of troubled areas that need to be targeted in all units found. Conclusion: Following the project, the conclusion can be drawn that awareness was increased from the intervention. By educating a small sample of nurse, word was spread and continued to filter throughout the facility. Other departments were made more aware of special areas such as hand hygiene pre and post patient contact that they had been suffering in and were not fully aware was included in hand hygiene.
