hand hygiene
By Paul Alper
October 15 is Global Handwashing Day : How Will Your Organization Celebrate and Accelerate ?”
According to its website , 1 Global Handwashing Day is “ an opportunity to design , test and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap and water at critical times .” The theme of the day for 2021 is “ Our Future is at Hand , Let ’ s Move Forward Together ,” and it calls for collaborative action to reach the goal of universal hand hygiene . The three aims of Global Handwashing Day are :
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To create a culture of handwashing with soap in all societies
To create awareness of the state of handwashing in each country
To inform people about the benefits of washing with soap
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , we certainly have an elevated sense of urgency to institutionalize hand hygiene as a vital element of patient and staff health and safety .
How can your organization celebrate Global Handwashing Day and use it as a driver to accelerate growth of your safety culture ? It is an exciting opportunity to take a global concept and make it meaningful to your organization in a way that aligns with your own unique culture . Here is a list of three strategies to consider :
1Create a video message to your entire community from your
CEO or senior C-Suite leader ( for example , your vice president of quality ) reinforcing how handwashing for 20 seconds with soap and water and proper use of alcohol-based handrub are core values for the organization . Perhaps have her / him mention that this represents how we all would want ourselves or a loved one cared for ; this type of mindfulness can have a profound effect on our own behavior . To learn more about mindfulness , handwashing and overall healthcare quality , take a look at Dr . Sanjay Saint ’ s TEDx Talk at the University of Michigan titled “ Improving Healthcare : Straight from the Heart .” 2 Consider depicting your leader taking 20 seconds to demonstrate the practice while talking about it . Post this video and other messages from staff on social media , and consider a press release to your local community emphasizing the importance of the day and your organization ’ s commitment to ensuring proper hand hygiene is a habit for all in your community of staff , volunteers , patients , family and visitors . Encourage all staff to like and re-post .
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Set an accelerated goal for hand hygiene compliance across all your organization ’ s units . Whatever each unit ’ s current goal is for improvement , add at least 30 percent to it for the final quarter of 2021 . For example , if a particular medical unit ’ s current compliance is 60 percent and the goal for the end of the year is to grow to 70 percent ( about a 17 percent increase ), make the goal about 30 percent higher than 17 percent or 22 percent — meaning that the end of the year goal is now about 73 percent . This may not seem like a lot , but it will mean hundreds of thousands more hand hygiene events in a 250-bed facility 3 per year and significantly reduce the risk of HAIs . 4 If you are still using direct observation for measurement of hand hygiene compliance , consider evaluating electronic monitoring systems as a more accurate and reliable way to measure this vital key patient safety performance indicator .
Amp up your approach to facility wide reminders . According
3 to WHO , a multi-modal approach to hand hygiene is essential and one of the key elements is to have a full spectrum of reminders in the workplace . 5 This is an excellent opportunity for your marketing department and Infection Control team to collaborate for high creativity . Check out the CDC website 6 in addition to the WHO ’ s site for ideas . These should include :
●Automatic sanitizer dispensers on stands at all entrances with message signs on top ●A hand hygiene reminder screensaver for all staff computers ●WHO 5 Moments posters ●How to properly handwash with soap and water posters ●How to properly use alcohol-based handrub posters ●Patient and family engagement brochure ●Elevator door wraps with creative handwashing messages
( a quick web search will bring up a few suppliers ) ●Floor decals pointing to hand hygiene dispensers ●In-house TV channel reminders
October 15 is right around the corner and a great trigger event to accelerate your hand hygiene compliance growth trajectory .
Paul Alper , BA , led the launch of PURELL ®, invented the first electronic hand hygiene monitoring system proven to reduce infections while improving behavior and eliminating costs and is now the VP Patient Safety Innovation for Medline Industries , Inc . through an exclusive engagement with his consulting practice , Next Level Strategies , LLC .
References :
3 . Steed C , Kelly JW , Blackhurst DW , Boeker S , Diller T , Alper P . Hospital hand hygiene opportunities : where and when ( HOW2 )? The HOW2 benchmark study . ( 2011 ) Am J Infect Control ; 39:19-26 .