Hand hygiene is considered the most important infection control measure. However, despite this fact it remains poorly practiced by healthcare workers. Poor adherence to hand hygiene policies results from several causes; the most common causes are lack of time, skin irritation caused by frequent exposure to soap and water, hands do not look dirty, and sinks are poorly located.

Healthcare workers can get hundreds of bacterial cells just by performing simple patient care activities such as touching patients hands, equipment like bedside rails, over-bed tables, IV pumps, or even taking a blood pressure or pulse. These bacteria can then be transmitted by the healthcare worker to another patient who will get colonized and then infected by those bacteria.