HEALTHCARE & HOSPITAL FACILITIES
REMOVING HAND HYGIENE BARRIERS
Sophie Rice, EMEA Healthcare Segment Manager for Kimberly-Clark
Professional explains why hygienic washroom or wash station facilities are the starting point for good healthcare hygiene.
Maintaining high standards of hygiene is critical in healthcare and good hand hygiene is the most critical of all. Good hand hygiene is essential throughout healthcare premises to eliminate cross-contamination and prevent the spread of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is quite clear that good hand hygiene is the biggest weapon we have against bacteria in hospitals. WHO's 2017 'SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands' campaign day had the theme of 'Fight antibiotic resistance - it's in your hands' with a clear message for health workers, management, policy makers and infection control leaders around the importance of correct hand hygiene to counter the growing threat from Multi-Resistant Organisms (MROs). It called on policy makers to: "Stop antibiotic resistance spread by making infection prevention and hand hygiene a national policy priority."
In the UK, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently confirmed government plans to halve the number of gram-negative bloodstream infections by 2020 (such as E-coli). As part of this initiative, for the first time the NHS will be required to publish staff hand hygiene indicators.
This means healthcare workers may have to wash their hands several times every hour. Despite
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this, ensuring staff compliance with good hand hygiene practice can be a challenge. Studies show that on average, 61% of health workers do not adhere to recommended hand hygiene practices.
Skin irritation is a major barrier to good hand hygiene; it is the number one reason for the failure of hand hygiene compliance in hospitals. In Britain, one-in-five nurses – equivalent to 80,000 – has reported work-related skin problems because of repeated hand washing. Therefore, any steps taken to help staff to care for their skin may also encourage improved hand hygiene compliance, reduce infection and positively impact on health and wellbeing. All barriers to good hand hygiene need to be addressed such as lack of awareness, time, skin irritation and unwelcoming wash facilities. It is important to ensure the wash station is well- stocked with good quality products, including hand towels, soap, sanitising gel and moisturising lotion.
Drying hands is an essential part of the hand washing routine. Some microbes remain on hands after washing and can be easily transferred if hands are not properly dried. WHO unequivocally recommends drying hands thoroughly with a single-use towel. A study by the University of Westminster showed that drying hands with a single-use towel reduces germ count by up to 76%.
It also showed that Jet Air Dryers increase germ count by 42%, while Hot Air Dryers increase germ count by 194%.
Also think about odours - if it doesn’t smell clean, the brain thinks it isn’t clean. Smells and stains therefore need to be eliminated, so consider introducing an odour control product or system.
Suppliers are continuing to innovate with the development of new products to help healthcare facilities maintain high standards of hygiene. Kimberly- Clark Professional has recently introduced the Kleenex® Ultra Rolled Hand Towel Solution and the Scott® Control Rolled Hand Towel which is specifically for healthcare providing soft, absorbent and strong towels for effective and hygienic hand drying.
They are teamed with a new compact Aquarius* dispenser with an improved never-run-out feature, ensuring a constant supply of hand towels – critical for effective hand hygiene.
Rising to the challenge of hand hygiene needs to be a priority for all healthcare environments. Providing good hand washing facilities with quality products can help reduce refilling and other maintenance duties, freeing up busy hospital cleaning teams to perform other important tasks – leading to higher service levels overall.
www.kimberly-clark.com twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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