Recent Posts
15- or 30-Second Handrub Time – Does It Matter?
To prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), it’s important for clinicians to sanitize their hands. Experts have traditionally focused beyond when and where providers clean their hands; they’ve also set standards for how healthcare workers perform hand hygiene and for how long. The recommended length of time is typically 30-60 seconds, but most providers spend far less time cleaning their hands. In fact, the range found in 14 previous studies was between 7 and 24 seconds[1]. Does it matter how
VoyageATL: Meet Chris Hermann of Clean Hands – Safe Hands in Midtown
Written by VoyageATL Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Hermann. Chris, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. Back in 2008, I was in a dual-degree graduate program, working on both a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at Georgia Tech and a Medical Degree from Emory Medical School. I learned about the problem of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and how hand hygiene is a major
Yet Another Nail in Direct Observation’s Coffin
More and more evidence keeps building, showing that direct observation doesn’t work in terms of measuring hand hygiene performance. A new study was recently published by the American Journal of Infection Control from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Direct observation was performed by both presumably recognized Infection Preventionists as well as new, presumably unrecognized “secret shoppers.” Almost 23,000 hand hygiene opportunities were observed in more than 400 hours of observation. The difference between overt and covert observation was
ATDC: Six ATDC Companies Make “Best Places to Work” List
By Peralte Paul Six startups of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), including five of the incubator’s graduates, were among the 100 Best Places to work in 2018, the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s annual ranking of top employers in the region. The companies were honored in a ceremony held September 6. In the “Small Business” category — companies with fewer than 50 employees — Clean Hands – Safe Hands, Florence, MessageGears, and Rigor, were ranked No. 7, 11, 30, and 34, respectively. A
CHSH Ranked #7 Best Place to Work (of Small Companies)
Clean Hands – Safe Hands was ranked #7 in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2018 “Best Places to Work” awards. The awards and rankings are based on anonymous employee surveys. There were around 2500 companies that participated; the 100 highest ranked companies were named to the “Best Places to Work” list. Fifty of the 100 were “Small Companies” (10-49 employees). Of this group, CHSH was the 7th highest in employee engagement and satisfaction. The Best Places to Work companies
The Full Spectrum of Hand Hygiene Technology Options
Electronic hand hygiene reminder systems aren’t a “one size fits all” solution. Different approaches are appropriate for different healthcare organizations. We believe we’re the only provider with the flexibility to offer the full spectrum of hand hygiene technology options. Here are three different approaches: Group (unbadged): If your focus is on measuring the performance of hospital staff as a whole, without having them wear a special badge reel, then this is the option for you. A group solution
Fear of Speaking Up is Pervasive
Let’s say you’re visiting your mother in the hospital. You see a doctor or nurse enter the room, shake her hand, and then start to inspect stitches from her surgery without cleaning their hands. Would you say anything? Would you speak up and remind the clinician to perform hand hygiene first? A scenario similar to this was posed to healthcare professionals in a study, published recently by the American Journal of Infection Control. Results were troubling, but not
Clean Hands – Safe Hands Recognized as a “Top Innovation of the Year: 2018”
ATLANTA, GA – August 29, 2018 – Clean Hands – Safe Hands announced today that it has been named to InfectionControl.tips’ 2018 list of the “Top Innovations of the Year: 2018.” The awards recognize “Game Changing Global Health Innovations.” Clean Hands – Safe Hands and the other nominees will be recognized during the HITS Consortium Conference in Nashville September 17 – 20, 2018. For more information, visit https://infectioncontrol.tips/2018/08/29/top-innovations-of-the-year-2018/ or https://hitsconsortium.org/2018-nashville/. About Clean Hands – Safe Hands Clean Hands –
Sanitizer-Resistant Bacteria: What Now?
A recent study reports that a specific bacterium has become more tolerant of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Research found that Enterococcus faecium became more resistant to alcohol in two Australian hospitals between 1997 and 2015. This has been reported in a wide variety of consumer media, from CNN to NPR and more. While it’s serious news, this isn’t the first time that hospitals have had to deal with bacteria that are tolerant of alcohol-based hand rubs. Clostridium difficile spores
Precaution Signs Fail 87% of the Time
When a patient is in isolation, it’s obviously important for everyone entering and exiting that room to know they’re in isolation. The patient is there for a reason – either they have an infection that could spread to healthcare providers as well as other patients, or their immune system is compromised and they’re susceptible to catching other people’s infections. Most of the time, the way visitors know a patient is in isolation is due to precaution signage on