Impact of Infection Control Education on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Procedural Staff

Background/Purpose: To date, minimal research has been conducted on proper use of personal protective equipment and hand hygiene within endoscopy. The American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has developed guidelines for infection control within the endoscopy suite. A practice change based upon these guidelines was implemented.Methods: Education was provided to endoscopy procedural staff within a Midwestern hospital based upon the World Health Organization 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene initiative and included personal protective equipment. Knowledge, skills and attitudes of the participant group was compared from paired pre to post-education surveys pertaining to hand hygiene and personal protective equipment. Randomized observation of personal protective equipment use and hand hygiene implementation during procedures was also documented pre to post-education.Results: The project results revealed statistical significance with both willingness to implement diligent personal protective equipment and improved technique within the endoscopy suite via the randomized observation and with a questionnaire. The hand hygiene questionnaire scores were statistically insignificant.Discussion/Implications: Although not all aspects of the project proved to be statistically significant, clinical significance was found via randomized observation following education. These practices can aid in reduction of organism transmission from patients to staff