Teaching best practice in hand hygiene: student use and performance with a gamified gesture recognition system.

The use of an automated gesture recognition system to teach the commonly adopted, seven-stage hand hygiene technique to veterinary undergraduate students was evaluated. The system features moderate gamification, intended to motivate the student to use the machine repeatedly. The system records each handwash stage, and those found to be difficult are identified and reported back. The gamification element alone was not sufficient to encourage repeated use of the machine, with only 13.6 per cent of 611 eligible students interacting with the machine on one or more occasion. Overall engagement remained low (mean sessions per user: 3.5, ±0.60 confidence interval), even following recruitment of infection control ambassadors who were given a specific remit to encourage engagement with the system. Compliance monitoring was introduced to explore how students used the system. Hand hygiene performance did not improve with repeated use. There was evidence that the stages-fingers interlaced, rotation of the thumb, rotation of the fingertips and rotation of the wrists-were more challenging for students to master (p=0.0197 to p<0.0001) than the back of the hand and of the fingers. Veterinary schools wishing to use such a system should consider adopting approaches that encourage peer buy-in, and highlight the ability to practise difficult stages of the technique.

Animal-handling teaching at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh.

This article describes the teaching of animal handling at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, as part of an animal husbandry course during the first two years of the veterinary curriculum. Basic methods of handling and restraint appropriate for the wide range of animal species that might be encountered in veterinary practice are demonstrated in practical handling classes. Students are given opportunities to practice the techniques under supervision. Additional handling experience is available during extramural studies in animal husbandry at a variety of establishments. Students are formally examined on their ability to handle and restrain animals, and each is required to reach a threshold degree of competence before progressing to the clinical years.