Perceptions and attitudes of patients and health care workers toward patient empowerment in promoting hand hygiene.

Background: Patient empowerment is a component of the World Health Organization's multimodal strategy to improve hand hygiene (HH). Its successful implementation requires knowledge of the perceptions and attitudes of patients and health care workers (HCWs) toward patient empowerment in HH.

Methods: A cross-sectional study, through a self-administered questionnaire of patients and their families and HCWs, was conducted in a 433-bed block of an 850-bed university hospital in Galicia, Spain.