is there a known standard or guideline regarding the adequate ratio between hand hygiene devices and number of patients' beds in ward ..i found many articles and researches but i did not find a standard for the proper sink to bed ratio for infection control purposes
At least 1 sink per 10 beds in an open ward. But if it is a alcohol based hand rub, it is ideally a 1 to 1, at arms reach.
Agree with Marcela ... WHO recommends ratio well above 1:10 and 1:1 for handrubs.
But the key strategy to compliance is more complicated than just achieving the 1:10 ratio. For example, having 10 wash basins at one end of the ward in a 100 bedded ward may not achieve compliance ... (distance - attitude - involvement of management) and so many factors matter.
Essentially ensuring compliance via infrastructure, education, awareness and getting even patients involved (as in the patients should be encouraged to ask the doctors if they washed their hands before touching them ... or the use of badges by patients that say "Wash hands before touching me" etc; These have been tried ...)
WHO document on hand hygiene implementation is an excellent resource on all such barriers and possible solutions:
http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Implementation.pdf
Regards,
Dr. Akilesh. R
India
The WHO or the IRC International Red Cross may have these guidelines for you, else search on Google Scholar for studies involving hand washing, etc.
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