In hospitals and other health care settings, hand hygiene can prevent infections from spreading from one patient to another, as well as from patient to health care worker.
Over 150 years ago, physician Ignaz Semmelweis determined that health care workers in a Viennese teaching hospital transmitted hospital-acquired diseases. The odor coming from the hands of doctors and students disturbed Semmelweis. He observed that they were not adequately washing their hands after performing autopsies and before their rounds on the delivery suite. “Cadaverous particles” were transferred from doctors and students to mothers, causing puerperal fever.
Cleaning Building Services New York, Inc. has created a resource page with information not only for parents, teachers and caregivers, but also information specifically targeting kids and their education of hand hygiene.
CHPSO would like to thank Tony, a student in Seattle, for bringing this insightful resource to our attention.
The Handwashingforlife® Institute is a global organization and an international leader in identifying and advocating end-to-end best practices in hand hygiene. The company provides independent, objective and unbiased advice; in a practical, affordable and sustainable manner.
Henry the Hand Foundation is a “grass roots” non-profit organization stretching our resources to share Henry’s Hand Awareness message with children and adults across the globe. Henry is asking if you can “give us a hand”. We encourage parents and health professionals to “Adopt a School” (daycare, Head Start program, pre-school or school) in their community to act as ambassadors for Henry’s packaged program which allows them to take a leadership role in teaching health education.
This article examines the effectiveness of a Miami Children’s Hospital electronic monitoring system which confirms that providers engaged in proper hand hygiene before patient contact.
Landers T, Abusalem S, Coty MB, et alAm J Infect Control, 2012; 40(4 Suppl 1): S11-7
This article reviews the effectiveness of including patients in hand hygiene initiatives and provides guidelines for the implementation of these initiatives.
This report reviews studies that have been published since the 1985 CDC and 1995 APIC hand hygiene guidelines were published. This report reviews hand hygiene practices, adherence of healthcare workers to these practices, and barriers to proper adherence.
The Hand Hygiene Resource Center is a project of the Saint Raphael Healthcare System and John M. Boyce, M.D. The Center’s mission is to advance the quality of patient care and reduce infection by improving hand hygiene practices in healthcare settings.
The World Health Organization (WHO) now has an extensive library of materials to support your efforts to improve hand hygiene, including tools for system change, training and education, evaluation and feedback, workplace reminders, and institutional safety climate.
The Centers for Disease Control developed a patient admission video and posters for free use. The patient admission video is available in English and Spanish. Modeled after the video that airline passengers are required to view prior to flight take-off, this video is intended to be shown to patients upon admission to the hospital.
Hospitals and medical centers are taking things “into their own hands” and coming up with novel, effective ways to encourage hand hygiene. Here are just a few examples.
