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Infection control is getting back to basics 3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Continued from page 1 The reports are also listed on www.haltonhealthcare.com, the website for Halton Healthcare Services (HHS). The hospital is reporting a compliance rate of 43 per cent before initial patient or patient environment contact and 55 per cent after initial patient or patient environment contact. That compares unfavourably to some hospitals across the province and in Halton -- to Georgetown Hospital (59 per cent) and Milton District Hospital (86 per cent). "We're focusing on hand hygiene at the right time and doing it the right way. It really is based on evidence we didn't have even 10 years ago," said Lanza. Odd as it may seem, hand washing is destined to be a new health care-related habit. "As children, mom taught us all the different times we needed to wash our hands... after going to the bathroom, before eating, after playing with the dog," said Lanza. And while it has become an instinctive practice for health care professionals to clean their hands, after patient care, it is equally important they clean their hands prior to patient contact. Sylvia Rodgers, Chief Nursing Officer and Professional Practice Leader at HHS, explained there is a new model that outlines four priority points for hand hygiene. The transition from hospital environment to patient environment is key and hand hygiene, as health care professionals move between the environments, is essential. Lanza looked to the practice of wearing seatbelts and how it is an automatic response to entering a vehicle. That type of automated response is what hospitals are seeking to instill in everyone, but in particular, health care professionals as they move between the environments. It isn't just the hand washing practice, but the recognition of the transition between the environments that should spark the automatic hand washing that is key. While members of the public are in the hospital and having contact with patients, it is health care professionals who are the most likely to have their hands used as a transmission vehicle for bacteria, said Lanza. The measurements are valuable in getting the message across, too, say HHS officials. Health care professionals know they are washing their hands umpteen times a day. "It seems as though they are washing and washing and washing, when in fact, they're only washing to this percentage. It's a real eye-opener and useful feedback," said Rodgers. A health care professional could, in a 12-hour shift, wash their hands 200 times a day, admitted Rodgers. Lanza said the alcoholbased washes are actually easier on the skin than soap and water and moisturizers are available just as hand hygiene dispensers are being made readily available throughout the hospital. As part of its commitment to inform the public of patient safety-related issues, the government added some new categories as of April, to those already being reported, includng hand hygiene. OTMH has been working on numerous ways to increase hand hygiene compliance among healthcare professionals, support staff, volunteers, patients and visitors. It has been continuously increasing the number of hand hygiene dispensers since 2000. In 2007, it made completion of the ministry's handwashing training modules mandatory for all clinical staff and has conducted follow-up audits of practice. It has also integrated hand hygiene into its practices, policies and procedures and in 2008, participated in the Clean Hands Save Lives campaign aimed at patients and visitors. Most recently, in 2008, it began implementing Ontario's Just Clean Your Hands campaign, which trains healthcare workers how to wash their hands the proper way and at the appropriate times. According to the HHS website, hand hygiene "is fundamental to all our patient safety initiatives and a cornerstone of our infection control and prevention efforts. Hand hygiene will continue to be a key priority." LESS THAN LEVEL B A R A N D G R I L L For all your sports and entertainment needs. LIVE This Friday & Saturday... 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