1. Brief overview of the background of infection prevention;
2. Information on the documented incidence of nosocomial
bloodstream infections and its consequences.
Furthermore, healthcare professionals were made
aware of their own poor overall compliance to hand
hygiene, a strategy aimed to enhance responsibility
awareness and behavioral change;
3. Instructions for optimal hand hygiene procedures. These
mainly focused on the timing, the technique and
completeness of hand rubbing (e.g. rubbing of the hand
back, rubbing the palm of the hand, wrists, finger tops
and thumbs);
4. Performance feedback on personal hand hygiene
practices. Completeness of hand rubbing was assessed
by UV-light after rubbing hands with fluorescent hand
rub solution. Only sufficiently rubbed parts will glow in
UV-light; non-disinfected parts remain dark;
5. Senior healthcare professionals were encouraged to
improve social norms regarding hand hygiene by
serving as role models and encouraging junior healthcare
prof