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Introduction Hand hygiene is crucial for preventing healthcare-associated infections in dental settings. Despite its importance, the hand hygiene compliance rates remain unclear, particularly in dental university hospitals where teaching, research, and clinical practice intersect. This study aimed to establish a baseline of hand hygiene compliance rates in a dental university hospital, evaluate the effectiveness of direct observation in improving compliance, and compare practices among different categories of healthcare workers. Materials and methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted at Kanagawa Dental University Hospital from April 2022 to March 2023. The design included four blinded direct observations to establish baseline compliance rates, followed by educational training and four unannounced explicit observations. Compliance was assessed based on the World Health Organization's "Your 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene: Dental Care," adapted for dental outpatient services. The study focused on hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and compliance rates were calculated for dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, and trainee dentists. Monthly consumption of hand sanitizer per patient was tracked from January 2019 as a secondary measure. Statistical analysis included Fisher's exact test, unpaired t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results The baseline hand hygiene compliance rate was low at 15.6%, with the highest compliance (25.0%) for "After touching patient surroundings." Post-intervention, the overall compliance rate increased significantly to 36.0% (p < 0.001). Significant improvements were observed in moments "After body fluid exposure risk" (11.1% to 31.3%, p = 0.004), "After touching a patient" (12.0% to 52.9%, p = 0.006), and "After touching patient surroundings" (25.0% to 73.3%, p = 0.001). Dental hygienists, assistants, and trainee dentists showed significant increases in hand hygiene compliance, while dentists did not. Hand sanitizer consumption increased significantly from 2019 (2.38 ± 0.29 mL per patient) to 2020 (3.47 ± 0.49 mL, p < 0.001) and remained elevated through 2023. Conclusions This study revealed low baseline hand hygiene compliance in a dental university hospital setting. While direct observation and education led to significant short-term improvements, especially among allied health professionals, the disconnect between observed compliance rates and hand sanitizer consumption suggests these changes may not represent sustainable behavioral shifts. The varying improvement rates among different healthcare workers and the challenges in maintaining long-term adherence highlight the need for tailored, continuous interventions in dental education and practice settings to enhance hand hygiene compliance.
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INTRODUCTION: Knowledge management enhances efficiency, empowers employees, and enhances organizational health. Social capital provides a good basis for more productive human resources, and training hospitals also play a key role in the health-care system. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between knowledge management and social capital with organizational health in selected educational hospitals of Tehran in 2018. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 310 medical staff of hospitals using proportional sampling method. The data gathering tools consisted of three standard questionnaires of knowledge management, social capital, and organizational health. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 22 software. RESULTS: Most participants in this study were male (8/66%) and in the age group 31-36 years. The mean of knowledge management and organizational health were 3.43 and 3.49, respectively. There is a significant direct relationship between knowledge management components and organizational health. Moreover, there is a significant but weak direct relationship between knowledge management and social capital with organizational health dimensions (P ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Considering the relationship between knowledge management and social capital with organizational health, enhancing the level of organizational health can help to improve the dimensions of knowledge management and social capital. It is suggested that hospital managers, using knowledge management and social capital components, enhance organizational health so that the hospital is more prepared to adapt to the complexities and changes in the market providing services.