Compliance With Hand Hygiene Policies Compliance hand hygiene policies health care facility Richmond hospital Texas

Compliance with hand hygiene policies in Richmond hospital, Texas

Hand hygiene policies are a plan of action adopted by health care providers that aim at preventing the transmission of infections or microorganisms from a patient to patient or from inanimate objects and surfaces to a patient through the hands of a healthcare provider or any other person dealing with a patient. They are specific hand hygiene practices carried out to reduce the risk of acquiring a hospital acquired infection, also known as nosocomial infections. This protects the patient, the hospital staff and even visitors.

Hand hygiene policies

The policies indicate when the staff must perform the hand hygiene activities; it also states the types of agents that should be used to achieve hand hygiene and any other measures. The policy indicates that:

Hand hygiene should be practiced before and after handling a patient even if gloves were worn. This involves washing of hands with soap, rinsing then drying off the hands. Application of alcohol hand rub is also acceptable. This is also expected to happen after visiting the rest room and before leaving work.

Antiseptic hand washing products shall be used or alcohol hands rub. The alcohol hand rub may be used in place an antiseptic soap hand wash. In case the hands are grossly contaminated, they should be washed with liquid soap before disinfecting with alcohol hand rub.

Use of gloves is mandatory when exposure to blood, serum or other body fluids is likely.

When...

Mouth care and proceed to the dirtiest site (e.g. handling urinal catheter). If need be that one need to handle a clean site having dealt with a dirty site, the hands should be washed between site.
In addition to this, healthcare workers who handle patients directly must maintain their fingernails and ensure that the tip of the nail does not extend past the edges of their fingers. Artificial nails or acrylic overlays are not allowed. The nail polish must not be chipped or cracked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002()

Compliance to the hand hygiene policies

Studies conducted by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in 1980-2001show that compliance to the recommended hand hygiene procedure was poor among the health care workers. The studies showed that compliance was at an average low of 40% Boyce JM, 2002()

This led to the government making hand washing policy mandatory making it a national patient-safety goal. This required health facilities to establish programs that monitored compliance and also a continuous compliance improvement. Only then could such a facility be accredited.

The increased use of alcohol hand sanitizers in the facilities has made hand hygiene practices more convenient and also less time consuming. This is because they eliminate the need for hand washing sinks. They are convenient in the fact that the sanitizers are small and are usually supplied at accessible places along different areas of patient care. Some can be carried around in the pocket or can even be worn. An observational study carried out…