Program implementation FAQs

How do I start a Hand Hygiene program at my organisation?

The first thing to do is to decide if your organisation is required to conduct hand hygiene compliance auditing. This decision will be based on the requirements set out by your accreditation standards, your jurisdictional requirements and/or your organisation's governing body. The NHHI Implementation Guide includes a range of useful information on implementation of a hand hygiene program.

If you need to conduct hand hygiene compliance auditing, then you will need to ensure that appropriately trained Hand Hygiene Auditors and Hand Hygiene Auditor Educators are available to support implementation and auditing. 

If you do not need to conduct hand hygiene compliance auditing, please review the NHHI Implementation Guide on implementing a Hand Hygiene program for your facility (for example, hand hygiene education, hand hygiene product placement, online learning on hand hygiene promotion). 

Is there specific guidance for some clinical settings within and outside of hospitals? Are there special requirements for non-acute, mental health, dental, blood collection and for hand hygiene programs in these settings?

Yes. Specific guidance is available for non-acute, dental, mental health, blood collection and dialysis settings.

What is the benchmark for hand hygiene compliance?

The National Hand Hygiene Benchmark is set by the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC). Since 2017, the benchmark has been 80% for all five Moments of Hand Hygiene.

Should targets be set for hand hygiene compliance? If so, what level of increase would be good?
 Any such targets should first be realistic and attainable, in view of the long-term efforts required to bring about improvements in hand hygiene behaviour.  Aiming for complete compliance in the short term would obviously be difficult to achieve in facilities where initial compliance rate may be less than 40%.

What should be aimed for is the establishment of a baseline, and a steady, sustainable, month by month, year on year improvement.

Does the Commission provide copies of NHHI posters?

All NHHI promotional materials, including posters, can be downloaded and printed locally. 

The Commission does not produce hard copies. 

Can I use any of the NHHI content in my presentation/article etc.?

All NHHI materials are available electronically for individuals to download, display, print and reproduce in unaltered form only (retaining this notice, and any headers and footers) for personal, non-commercial use or for use within your organisation. You may distribute any copies of downloaded material in unaltered, complete form only. All other rights are reserved.

If the resources are modified in any way, the NHHI logo should not be used. Instead, the NHHI should be acknowledged as the original source, and the resource referenced appropriately.

What promotional materials are available for my hand hygiene program?

Promotional materials for the NHHI include brochures, posters, videos and a screensaver.