Abstract Hand washing is the foremost practice fundamental to hospital safety precautions. Hospital-associated infections account for a significant disease burden and mortality and increase medical spending (Magill et al., 2014). The objectives of the proposed quantitative study are to compare the pre- and post-intervention hand washing (HW) skills of nurses and assess the impact of HW training on surgical-site infection rates. It will use a quasi-experimental design to compare pre-test and post-test data. A random sample of 25 registered nurses working at surgical wards of a selected hospital in the US will receive a 4-week online educational intervention. Their HW knowledge scores before and after the program, as measured using a designed questionnaire, will indicate the efficacy of training. Also, a comparison of pre- and post-intervention surgical-site infection rates will show that hand washing is an effective infection control measure. The proposed study has significant implications for practice. First, a decrease in surgical-site infections after the training will affirm that HW educational programs designed for healthcare workers could reduce hospital-associated pathological states. Thus, hospitals and nursing schools will emphasize handwashing as an important safety practice. Second, higher HW knowledge scores after the intervention will indicate that skills deficit is the leading cause of low compliance with HW guidelines. It will show if refresher courses are needed to improve awareness and adherence to patient safety practices, including hand hygiene. Introduction Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) account for substantial morbidity and mortality rates, particularly among post-surgical patients. Magill et al. (2014) estimate that about 722,000 hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) were reported in U.S. healthcare facilities in 2011 alone, causing 75,000 deaths annually. Thus, the high prevalence of HAIs has significant implications for patient safety, care quality, and health care costs. Inpatients may contract procedure- or device-related HAIs, such as ventilator-associated pneumonia complications, gastrointestinal diseases, or surgical-wound infections, among others, during admission. Post-surgical patients are prone to central-line bacteremia and catheter-related urinary tract infections (UTIs) (Magill et al., 2014). The leading cause of HAIs is pathogen transmission from the hands of nurses and doctors involved in direct inpatient care (Magill et al., 2014). Most HAIs can be prevented through transmission-based precautions. Hand washing (HW) is an effective measure for preventing HAIs in hospital settings (Ellingson et al., 2014). Following recommended hand hygiene practices are, therefore, critical in combating nosocomial infections. Healthcare workers (HCWs) can utilize a detergent and water or alcohol-based formulations to sanitize their hands before and after surgery (Ellingson et al., 2014). However, poor compliance with these procedures is a growing issue of concern in hospitals. Surgical staff nurses have a role to play in preventing HAIs given their direct involvement in surgical-wound care and recovery. Therefore, compliance with hand hygien