In order to keep patients – and healthcare workers – safe, the best practice is for clinicians to clean their hands every time they enter or exit a patient’s room, as well as during the My 5 Moments recommended by the World Health Organization.
That’s the best practice. Unfortunately, it isn’t reality – on average, providers clean their hands less than half the times that they should[1].
That said, a recent study showed that healthcare workers are more likely to perform hand hygiene during flu season, when the perceived risk is increased. It may be that there’s more general awareness of cleaning one’s hands during these periods of time, or perhaps clinicians are concerned that they may catch the flu themselves – the reasoning behind this finding isn’t understood.
While hand hygiene should remain high during all seasons, studies like this may lead to new methods of increasing – and sustaining – hand hygiene in healthcare organizations. In the meantime, Clean Hands – Safe Hands (CHSH) uses a patented Real-Time Voice Reminder™ to remind providers to clean their hands every time they enter or exit a patient’s room.
The CHSH system has reduced HAIs by an average of over 60% in ten consecutive hospital installations where our process was followed for 6 months…download our whitepaper to discover the process. Or here’s a brief video about how the system works.
[1] Erasmus V, Daha TJ, Brug H, Richardus JH, Behrendt MD, Vos MC, et al. Systematic review of studies on compliance with hand hygiene guidelines in hospital care. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2010;31:283-94.
