All Entries Tagged With: "hand hygiene"
Can a video really help curb infections?
For quite some time now, hospitals have been creating and posting videos to create awareness about proper infection control protocol for patient caregivers (most focus on hand washing or vaccination).
The Association of Peri-operative Nurses (AORN) and 3M had a contest for nurses to submit videos on hand hygiene. The World Health Organization (WHO) posted a video on hand hygiene, and even the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had a contest for people to submit a public service announcement video for preventing flu. And of course, hospitals have created videos on their own to help raise awareness and educate.
Videos are fun—they have the power to get staff out of their daily routine, dancing in sterile hospital hallways and awkwardly singing their newly-crafted lyrics over popular hits (think “I’m Gonna Wash My Hands” or “Pump It”). I also assume that while the video is being made, hospital staff are more focused on proper patient safety protocol. But do videos actually make a lasting effect on ensuring staff wash their hands or get vaccinated?
After watching the APIC Infection Prevention Film Festival winner’s video, I think some might. About forty entries were submitted, but the winner takes a less gimmicky approach and “depicts the tragedy and irony of healthcare-associated infections, transforming the statistics into a story of a patient who gets an infection,” according to the APIC press release. In my opinion, the video directly connects the simple–and sometimes annoying–act of hand washing to the safety of the patient, leaving the responsibility square on the shoulders of healthcare professionals. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the fun, light-hearted videos may be downplaying the danger. But that’s just what I think; I’d love to hear what you think of the video posted below. Over dramatic? Right on target? Play movie critic and share your thoughts below.
Hand washing requirement stripped from patient safety bill
Patient safety advocates are asking Nevada to add hand washing back into its patient safety bill, Assembly Bill 280, after language was cut out in April.
The original bill had included language requiring healthcare workers to wash hands between patients. When the language was cut out, it was replaced with a statement that employees and contractors in healthcare facilities must “follow protocols to ensure that the room and the environment of the patient is sanitary,” reports the Reno Gazette-Journal. The new wording of the bill has patient safety advocates calling it useless and vague. Steve Winters, whose mother died of a hospital-acquired infection, told the newspaper that the bill’s language should be unmistakable that hand-washing is required.
On May 5, a state Senate committee heard testimony from patient safety advocates who asked for hand-washing to be put back into the bill.
The bill’s sponsor, Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said the bill’s current language calls for “hand hygiene” and is intended to include all hand sanitation methods. But patient safety advocates say that hand hygiene rules are often ignored by healthcare personnel, and that specifically adding hand-washing to the bill recognizes its importance in keeping patients safe.
Do you feel that keeping the term “hand washing” in the bill makes a difference ? Let us know in our comment section.
Nevada bill will require checklists in hospitals
A new bill in Nevada would require hospitals in the state create checklists to improve infection control and patient identification.
The bill, AB280, was introduced on March 22 by Las Vegas Democratic Assemblyman, John Oceguera. In the proposed bill, safety checklists would remind healthcare workers to properly wash their hands after touching an infected surface or to ensure they go through the steps to positively identify patients before treatment, reports NevadaAppeal.com.
Oceguera said the checklists, which will require annual updates, could potentially help healthcare workers avoid simple errors.
Does your facility utilize checklists to avoid medical errors? Let us know in our comment section.
Preventing HAIs through plasma (It’s not a sci-fi thriller)
The New York Times published an article on Saturday about a new technique and device that hospitals may soon be using to prevent infections. The small box uses plasma to disinfect staff members’ hands. Plasma, the same stuff found in televisions and neon signs, can clean hands in four seconds (which is a lot less time than the traditional thirty seconds to minute of required scrubbing ). Not only does it disinfect, which is ultra important for facilities worried about the preventing healthcare-acquired infections, but it gets rid of fungi and viruses.
Plasma is already in use as a disinfectant for medical devices. However, use on body parts has been unheard of until now, namely because the voltage necessary to make plasma is not also conducive to hands or feet. However, the engineers behind this new device have designed it in a way that would make it impossible for people to accidentally touch the high voltage areas.
Looks like a new, interesting foray into the infection control market to me! Check the article out for yourself here.
“Big Brother” may be keeping watch on patient safety practices
Maryland is using some of its funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for “secret shoppers” to evaluate whether hospital staff members are washing their hands. A Rhode Island hospital is being forced to install video cameras by the state’s department of health to monitor its operating rooms because several wrong-site surgeries have occurred there in the past few years. These examples may be part of a new trend of hospitals using surveillance as a technique to improve patient safety, reports American Medical News.
The data from the Maryland project will not be made public, but will be shared with all participating hospitals. Hospitals will be able to compare the rates of compliance among groups of staff members, such as physicians and nurses.
The use of surveillance to improve patient safety can be effective, as long as it is used as a helpful aid, Mark Chassin, MD, MPH, president of The Joint Commission told American Medical News. However, he said, secret shoppers, video cameras, and other types of technology can only be successful if they are not also undermining the culture of an organization.
This balance is certainly a difficult one to strike. Has your organization employed any type of surveillance in an effort to improve patient safety? The use of hand washing monitors is probably the most common form of surveillance that I’ve heard of, and usually these are done in conjunction with some other sort of “fun” patient safety or infection control initiative a hospital. This type of surveillance mentioned in the American Medical News article takes the idea to a new level, and it will be interesting to see if it has a larger effect on patient safety than other tactics.
AORN and 3M team up for hand hygiene initiative
The latest initiative to be announced in the name of preventing healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) comes from the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and 3M. The two groups are partnering on the “It’s In Your Hands” campaign to bring to light the best hand hygiene practices for the according to AORN’s recently revised “Recommended Practices for Hand Hygiene in the Perioperative Setting.”
The campaign also seeks to involve nurses around the country by inviting them to share their creativity through a YouTube video contest. Nurses can enter videos via YouTube from December 1, 2009 through January 18, 2010. The short videos should address proper hand hygiene techniques for the operative setting that comply with the revised AORN practices, as well as address the topic from both an educational and fun standpoint.
During the week of February 1, the final three videos, as chosen by a panel of AORN Recommended Practices Committee members, will be displayed on the AORN Web site. Visitors to the Web site will be able to vote on their favorite video until February 22. The nurses behind the video voted to be number one will receive up to three free registrations to the AORN Annual Congress, paid for by a 3M grant. More information about the contest will be posted at www.aorn.org after December 1.
Vote for your favorite flu prevention commercial in HHS contest
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently put out a call for entries into its contest for a new public service announcement about preventing the spread of the flu. Now you can vote once a day on your favorite commercial out of the finalists chosen by HHS’ expert panel. Some of the clips are funny, some are straight and to the point, but all of them touch on the basics of infection prevention–namely by handwashing and practicing safe sneezing and coughing techniques. Some of the commercials also recommend that viewers get vaccinated for the flu. The commercials are not specifically for preventing the spread of H1N1, but various strains of the flu. Health officials expect the seasonal flu and H1N1 to together pack a decent sized punch–the WHO expects that within two years, one third of the world’s population will have caught the H1N1 virus. Certainly the messages contained in these videos could apply to preventing both types of the flu (although currently, only certain sectors of the population are being flagged to receive the H1N1 vaccine).
Voters have until September 16 to visit HHS’ YouTube channel and click the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” icons on each of the finalists. The winner of the contest receives a $2,500 prize! This is a great way to get your fellow staff members into reminding patients about flu prevention techniques. So, vote on your favorite, mine is the clip below. Although it’s a serious topic, I think that humor usually connects viewers with a subject more so than just straight facts.
New infection control product monitors hand hygiene
Performing hand hygiene adequately and often is something that many healthcare facilities are striving to do better. For the most part, those in charge of monitoring for compliance with hand hygiene protocols use direct observational methods, which is not always a reliable method. However, a new product being developed at the University of Florida may help hospitals better monitor which staff members pay attention to hygiene, reports this article from HealthLeaders Media.The product, called HyGreen, should provide some relief to those hospitals worried about losing out on Medicare reimbursement due to a healthcare-acquired infection.
The product works is as follows: Staff members each wear a badge that transmits a unique identifying signal every three seconds. When he or she sanitizes his or her hands, a sensor measures the alcohol on his or her hands and transmits a signal to that person’s badge denoting the sanitization. Then, the staff member has 60 to 90 seconds to move to another area, usually by a patient’s bed, where an overhead sensor scans his or her personal badge. The badge will tell the sensor that the staff member recently sanitized his or her hands and can interact with a patient, and if the allotted time window has passed or a caregiver forgets to wash his or her hands, the staff member’s personal badge will vibrate to remind him or her to perform hand hygiene. The data is also transmitted to a central database.
What do you think about this type of monitoring technology? Too intrusive? Necessary in today’s harsh regulatory world? Important for keeping patients safe?
WHO announces new hand hygiene campaign
Piggy backing off its “Clean Care is Safer” campaign launched in 2005, The World Health Organization (WHO) announced its latest initiative on May 5th. Titled “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands,” the initiative attempts to illustrate how deadly failing to use proper hand hygiene practices can be. Several events took place around the world on May 5th in honor of the initiative’s launch.
The WHO has also posted lots of tools on it’s Web site for those hospitals interested in the initiative, including case studies, videos, and a graphic display touting the “Five Moments for Hand Hygiene” that specifies the five most important times bedside caregivers can perform hand hygiene. They also offer advice on how to educate staff members, a method for gathering feedback on any hand hygiene initiatives started in a facility, and a sample action plan for those hospitals who need guidance.
The concept of cleaning our hands to prevent the spread of infection is not new, yet it’s something that is just not done enough in the healthcare setting. The WHO’s new spin might spur on some creative ideas within your own facility. Has your hospital signed up to be a a part of this new initiative? More than 4,500 hospitals worldwide have done so.
