World Hand Hygiene Day 2025

4 May 2025

At Nurse Maude, delivering safe, high-quality care is at the heart of everything we do.  This World Hand Hygiene Day, we join the global call to action: It might be gloves. It’s always hand hygiene.


Hand hygiene remains one of the simplest, most powerful ways to prevent the spread of infections - protecting not only our clients, but their whānau, our staff, and our wider communities.

Why Hand Hygiene Matters


Gloves are important, but they are not a replacement for clean hands. Medical gloves can become contaminated just like bare hands — sometimes within minutes of use during routine tasks.


Research shows that up to 50% of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) could be prevented through effective hand hygiene practices (WHO Global Report on Infection Prevention and Control, 2022). Yet today, millions of people worldwide still acquire infections while receiving care that could have been prevented.


In Aotearoa New Zealand, we can be proud of our progress:

  • The national hand hygiene compliance rate for public health districts is 84.8%.
  • However, even here, hand hygiene is still missed in 16.3% of cases when gloves are used.
         (HQSC Hand Hygiene Report, 2023)


Each missed opportunity represents a chance where harm could occur - and highlights why hand hygiene must remain a consistent priority.


World Hand Hygiene Day
An infographic of a pair of dirty gloves with mud and bacteria on the,
A pair of gloves with a cross over them and a tap with a tick mark over it

Glove Overuse and Environmental Impact


Gloves are a critical part of healthcare protection, but their overuse also creates significant environmental harm. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global healthcare sector was generating approximately 591 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE) waste every day (WHO, 2025) — much of it from disposable gloves.


Used gloves are classified as infectious waste, requiring careful handling and disposal. Whenever appropriate, hand hygiene without unnecessary glove use can help reduce waste and environmental burden while maintaining patient safety


A Global Goal for Safer Care


The World Health Organization has set an ambitious goal:


  • By 2026, hand hygiene compliance monitoring and feedback should be a national standard in all major hospitals worldwide.


Today, only 68% of countries report having such systems in place — showing how vital it is to continue building strong infection prevention cultures (WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands 2025 Campaign).


Together, we can protect lives through clean hands.

Good hand hygiene saves lives. It protects patients. It protects whānau. It protects us all. Together, we are committed to safer care through better hand hygiene.

Dying Matters Week podcast series graphic with white leaf and face silhouette on blue gradient background

Seven days, seven conversations: making it easier to talk about death and dying

9 September 2026
For dying matters, we've released the seven days, seven conversations podcast series. A podcast about helping people talk more openly about death, dying and palliative care.
Title slide reading “Suitcase Stories” with a crowd scene and purple gradient overlay

Suitcase Stories’ generous support for Nurse Maude Hospice

3 September 2026
A huge thank you to Chapter 1 and everyone involved in Suitcase Stories | Chapter1 , which culminated in the Runway Reveal event which was held on Sunday 30 August in the gallery. The event brought together Canterbury artists, supporters and the wider community around a very creative idea…transforming suitcases into unique works of art, with funds raised to support Nurse Maude Hospice and Koru Care Christchurch. Each artist was given a suitcase and invited to tell a story through art – there were 66 suitcases (most were vintage style) in total. The identity of the artists remained a mystery, so people have been purchasing the suitcases without knowing who had created them. Each suitcase is being sold for $500. The artists’ identities were revealed at Sunday’s event. The Runway Reveal was a great celebration of the project, with a group of young Koru Care recipients carrying the suitcases down the runway while wearing clothing they’d selected from our Nurse Maude op shops.