Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections are considered to be one of the biggest health problems, as they remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. They cannot be completely prevented, but their incidence can be greatly limited. The most important thing here is preventive action. Due to the frequent interaction between healthcare professionals and patients, the crucial importance of hand hygiene is therefore emphasized. Adherence to good disinfection and hand washing practices remains around 40%, which can be improved by using a variety of nudge tools to promote desired hygienic behavior. Purpose: The purpose of the master's thesis is to determine the actual state of compliance with hand hygiene in the hospital ward of the general hospital, more precisely the compliance of disinfection of the hands of employees and visitors or parents of children; introduce nudge tools to promote the desired hygienic behavior and finally analyze the effectiveness of these tools after their introduction. Methods: We conducted open observation of employees and visitors with participation. The actual state of hand disinfection was determined on the basis of observation, without introducing any changes; then we separately introduced three nudge tools, posters with an inscription and a picture, the scent of citrus and flashing lights. The obtained results were analyzed with the help of the SpeedyAudit Lite application, and the effectiveness of each nudge tool and the adequacy of hand disinfection by categories of persons were compared. Results: The results showed that employees and visitors or parents of children do not disinfect their hands consistently. All three introduced nudge tools had a positive effect on employees (in total). Nurses were most positively affected by posters with pictures and inscriptions, while the flashing lights had no significant effect on them. Doctors were most positively affected by the smell of citrus and flashing lights, and cleaning staff and visitors or parents of children were most positively affected by flashing lights, while the smell of citrus had no significant effect on them. Nudge tools did not have a significant impact on graduate nurses. In total, employees were most affected by posters with pictures and inscriptions, followed by flashing lights and the smell of citrus. Visitors or parents of children were most affected by flashing lights, followed by posters with pictures and inscriptions, while the smell of citrus had no significant effect on improving hand disinfection. Discussion and conclusion: Nudge tools are an effective and affordable tool to improve hand hygiene compliance. In addition to nudge tools, more emphasis should be placed on the education and training of both employees and visitors or parents of children. Education and training on proper hand hygiene and its importance several times a year make sense for employees. Visitors or parents of children could be briefly instructed on the importance and proper disinfection of hands upon entering a medical institution. Thematic brochures and inscriptions could be introduced inside the hospital rooms and in the corridors of the wards of the medical institution. Greater emphasis should be placed on the education and training of cleaning staff, as research has shown that they, of all employees, disinfected their hands the least consistently.
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