Date of Award


Degree Name

Nursing (D.N.P.)


College of Nursing

First Advisor

Jean Barry, PhD

Second Advisor

Kathy Chapman, DNP, RN

Third Advisor

Amy Manderscheid, DNP, RN, CMSRN


Healthcare acquired infections are the most common complication of hospital care in the United States, with subsequent negative implications on the healthcare system. While hand hygiene has long been considered the single most important and cost-effective way of reducing healthcareacquired infections, compliance among healthcare professionals is low, and most efforts to improve it fail. When compared to single-component hand hygiene interventions, research demonstrates that tailored multimodal interventions are an effective way to improve compliance with hand hygiene practices among healthcare professionals. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project focused on implementing a multimodal hand hygiene intervention, tailored to fit the specific needs of a rural critical access hospital, to determine its effect on compliance and sustainability of hand hygiene practices among healthcare professionals. Results demonstrate an increase in organization-wide hand hygiene compliance and improved reporting from multiple departments following project implementation.

Included in

Nursing Commons