Evaluation of patient participation in a patient empowerment initiative to improve hand hygiene practices in a Veterans Affairs medical center.

Background: In patient empowerment initiatives, patients are encouraged to ask caregivers if they have washed their hands. However, relatively little is known about the willingness of patients to participate in such initiatives.

Methods: Patients were presented with a "Partners in Your Care" script asking them to remind health care workers to wash their hands, and follow-up interviews were conducted.

Contamination of hospital curtains with healthcare-associated pathogens.

In a culture survey, we found that 42% of hospital privacy curtains were contaminated with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, 22% with ethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and 4% with Clostridium difficile. Hand imprint cultures demonstrated that these pathogens were easily acquired on hands. Hospital curtains are a potential source for dissemination of healthcare-associated pathogens.