Proper hand hygiene is widely acknowledged as the best way to prevent hospital acquired infections (HAIs) (more on that here), yet so many facilities struggle with it. One challenge that almost all facilities have to deal with (whether they realize it or not), is the holidays.
People are at a greater risk of getting sick during the holidays as they attend more crowded events. December is typically the peak of flu season, and proper hand hygiene is one of the best ways to prevent the flu. With more patients in the hospital, providers are busy, and busyness often leads to dips in hand hygiene performance by providers.
Clean Hands – Safe Hands customers have the ability to check on their hand hygiene performance at any time, including during the holidays. Whether because of busyness or just the craziness of the holidays, providers’ hand hygiene performance tends to dip around major holidays like Christmas or New Years. Even facilities like Hospital A (below), which has pretty high overall hand hygiene performance struggles with slips during the holiday season.
Hospitals who use Clean Hands – Safe Hands can not only check on hand hygiene performance, they can look at patient interactions and determine if providers are too busy during the holidays or possibly not visiting their patients as regularly as they should.
If you would like access to this kind of data in your facility, contact Clean Hands – Safe Hands to learn more.
