INFECTION CONTROL
KEEPING THE MESSAGE ALIVE
The importance of hand hygiene in the healthcare sector is indisputable.
The advice from all sides circles back to the World Health Organisation (WHO) website where the Five Moments for Hand Hygiene are clearly stipulated.
According to the WHO, healthcare staff should wash their hands before touching a patient, before carrying out any aseptic procedure and after exposure to body fluids. Hand washing should also take place after touching a patient or coming into contact with a patient’s surroundings.
The whole process from hand washing to drying should take between 40 and 60 seconds to ensure a thorough cleanse.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic this advice was followed closely by healthcare staff members. Fears of transmitting or catching the disease meant that large numbers of medical workers were highly motivated to practice good hand hygiene.
So, it seems that high levels of hand hygiene compliance are achievable. But are they sustainable?
Study after study suggests that compliance rates have declined since the COVID-19 peak and that many healthcare workers are still failing to wash their hands regularly, despite the pandemic.
An Australian survey carried out between April and June 2020 highlighted the fact that many doctors and ambulance workers were still failing to meet national hand hygiene standards. The study, carried out in New South Wales hospitals by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, revealed that only 79.5% of doctors and 74.5% of ambulance workers were washing or sanitising their hands when required to do so.
A second study carried out in New Delhi, India in August 2020 – before the country’s devastating ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 – revealed that 47% of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences admitted to regular failings in hand hygiene protocols.
According to the WHO’s Clean Hands 2020 campaign, around 70% of healthcare workers globally fail to routinely practice hand hygiene on a regular basis. However, studies have shown that hand hygiene
34
Keeping the hands clean is a crucial part of any infection control system – particularly during a global pandemic. But how hard is it for healthcare staff to sustain high levels of hand hygiene? Essity’s Liam Mynes considers ways of ensuring long-term compliance.
can definitely be improved with the aid of a few key changes. And it seems there is a real will to change on the part of healthcare workers.
A recent study carried out by United Minds on behalf of Essity revealed that 80% of healthcare professionals claimed to want to improve their hand hygiene compliance but added that they found most traditional training modules uninspiring. Around 60% of the 1,000-plus staff members polled said they would like hand hygiene to be given a higher priority in their unit.
A total of 98% considered hand hygiene to be a very important element of their daily work. Two-fifths (40%) called for better hand hygiene training, while around a third expressed dissatisfaction with the current levels of training they were being offered.
So, what can be done to improve the situation? It seems that the best results can be achieved via a combination of measures.
When the WHO recently collated the results of various global hand hygiene initiatives it noted that hand hygiene rates rose from 17% to 58% in three hospitals where more sinks were provided and more education and reminders were also supplied to staff.
In another intensive care unit, compliance rates leapt from 29% to 43% when a combination of education, posters, badges and brochures were supplemented with wall-mounted hand sanitiser dispensers. A third hospital saw an improvement from 48% to 67% when hand hygiene posters, staff feedback and administrative support were backed up by the provision of alcohol hand rubs.
So, it seems that education, visual prompts and feedback are all helpful tools in boosting hand hygiene. But it is also important to dig deeper into the reasons behind low levels of compliance.
The fact that healthcare staff have been rushed off their feet throughout the COVID-19 crisis means there has been little time to carry out regular 40-60-second hand- washes. In urgent situations, staff members might be forced to choose between washing their hands for the
www.tomorrowshs.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
