Topic > Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance in Healthcare

Index IntroductionImplementing Hand Hygiene AuditsImportance of Hygiene ComplianceConclusionReferencesIntroductionIn a hospital setting, there are many issues that nurses face that they have no control over. Issues including shortages of supplies, workload and demand created by patients. One of the few problems that nurses face and that nurses can prevent is the transmission of infection. Hand hygiene is a habit that most hospital staff do not respect and many do not even think about the consequences of not washing their hands. The use of correct hand hygiene can eliminate up to 70% of infections that would be transferred from patient to patient; however, there are many challenges hospitals face regarding compliance with hand hygiene protocols. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Implementing Hand Hygiene Controls Liability is an issue hospitals face when it comes to hand hygiene. Implementing hand hygiene audits is a solution that provides constructive feedback and holds the person accountable for their actions. The use of personalized targeted feedback will allow the hospital to reprimand officials for a lack of patient safety and create an opportunity to educate them on proper hand hygiene (Smiddy, Murphy, Savage, & Browne, 2019). The objective of the audit is to reinforce the importance of hand washing and when staff should wash their hands. Sometimes someone was not taught how to wash their hands properly or was in a hurry to assist another patient with self-care. This audit is useful to help remove the barrier to training and introduce a system that can remind staff to take time to protect their patients and themselves. Being able to hold a person accountable for negligence will help eliminate poor hand hygiene habits. Breaking habits is the most difficult aspect of solving the hand hygiene dilemma. The My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene movement is a movement to break the habit of simply washing your hands when entering and leaving a patient's room. The five times you should perform hand hygiene are before touching a patient, before an aseptic procedure, after exposure to body fluids, after touching a patient, and after touching the patient's surroundings (Bock , 2019). This solves the problem of staff only washing their hands before and after entering the patient's room. With this philosophy, we would have transferred bacteria after cleaning a patient, after touching the patient's tray, and in many other cases. After hospital staff were informed and interventions were initiated, hand hygiene compliance increased from 18% to 46% (Bock, 2019). By using My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene, we can better protect ourselves and our patients from any bacteria we come into contact with, while optimizing the best care we can provide. Once you start breaking habits, you can progress to enforcing compliance in your hospital. Importance of Hygiene Compliance Compliance is a problem for which most hospitals cannot find a solution. By adding a wireless sensor at the patient's room entrance, a verbal reminder to wash hands upon entry and exit can be initiated (Hou, Rosenberg, Steer, Cricco, & Campos, 2019). Without the sensor and the reminder, it is0196655318312069.