Clean hands
News
Updated 1 month ago
Proper hand hygiene practices play an important role in improving the safety of patients, physicians and staff in hospitals, as well as contributing to the prevention of the spread of healthcare-associated infections.
The strategies used to implement proper hand hygiene practices at the Pembroke Regional Hospital were recently highlighted as part of a poster presentation at the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association's (CHICA) annual conference.
The national conference, held May 29 to June 3 in Vancouver, British Columbia, was attended by Registered Nurse and Infection Control Practitioner Lisa Mitchell who presented, "Just Clean Your Hands -A Year in the Life of Hand Hygiene Practices".
"It was a great opportunity for us to be able to present our experiences in targeting hand hygiene while at the same time the conference was a great place to be able to network with peers in infection prevention and control and learn from some of their experiences and best practices," Ms. Mitchell said.
The hospital launched the "Just Clean Your Hands" and "Clean Hands Protect Lives" campaigns in 2008-09 as a mandatory program designed to educate Ontario healthcare providers and patients about the importance of proper hand hygiene.
The goal of the program was to change behaviours in order to help stop the transmission of organisms on their hands.
The PRH poster presentation highlighted the successful strategies which were part of a six-phase implementation plan: Facility preparation; Baseline evaluation of existing practices; Implementation to all staff and physicians; Evaluation; Program review; and Patient engagement through public awareness.
Compliance audit results have shown a progressive improvement in proper hand hygiene practices since implementation. An evaluation of the program showed that enabling changes in practice by changing human behaviour seemed to be more effective when supported by an organization's leadership and project champions.
Providing the necessary resources such as hand wash stations or hand sanitizer in key locations where care is provided was also an enabler for the changes.
"Proper hand hygiene is the single most important practice to prevent the spread of infection and contribute to healthcare provider and patient safety," said Susan Blakeney, director of quality and risk management.
"It involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, healthcare providers and the general public.
"Patients have a great chance to be involved in their care by ensuring they practice hand hygiene and by requesting that visitors and care providers wash their hands too," Ms. Blakeney said.
