Hand Hygiene, Infection Prevention and Food Safety Blog

We all know that making hand hygiene contagious is not easy, but if the wealth of questions and comments flooding this blog were any indication, we all seem to be striving towards a common goal of improving our knowledge and hopefully changing behaviors.  

A fly swatter is a device with no innate efficacy exhibited by the device itself but whose efficacy resides solely in the skillful hand and decisiveness of the user (loosely regulated pesticidal device).  Hand washing efficacy is much like the fly swatter, totally dependent on how well and decisively it is execution by those same hands (food-contact, drug-antimicrobials, & cosmetic-soap regulated territory). 

Increasing safety within healthcare culture is recognized as one of the most important drivers in patient care. Whether you are a large teaching hospital or a 10 bed nursing home, all healthcare facilities must take the steps to examine safety culture in their organization and find areas for continuous improvement. However this is not a simple process.

In 1847, Austrian physician Ignaz Semmelweiss proved that washing hands drastically reduced deaths from sepsis on maternity wards, and he published those findings in his book Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever. Health care acquired infections (HAIs) are almost completely preventable, yet more than 150 years after Dr. Semmelweiss’ observations, HAIs are responsible for an estimated two million infections and almost 100,000 deaths (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011) each year in the United States alone. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for healthcare staff and managers to focus on the importance of improving hand hygiene in hospitals on “WHO SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands Day!,” May 5, 2013. For this annual event, the WHO enlists the support of leading global suppliers of infection prevention solutions for hospitals to participate in spreading the hand hygiene message.

Did you know that every 60 seconds, a working adult touches as many as 30 objects which may be contaminated by bacteria or viruses causing infectious disease?  According to one recent workplace microbial survey, "desk top surfaces, computer keyboards, mouse and telephone receivers are more contaminated than restroom toilet seats."

How much do you really know about hand hygiene in a healthcare environment?  We all know that following hand hygiene guidelines helps reduce the incidence of infection.  However, a recent study revealed there is room for improvement in hand hygiene knowledge, particularly in relation to the use of alcohol-based hand rubs. 

I am a huge fan of ‘The Easter Ham Story’.  In the story, a little girl watches her mother prepare the Easter ham and decides to ask her mother why she cuts off both ends before putting it in the pot. The mother of the little girl responds with only, “That’s how its always been done.”  

The robot’s name may be fanciful, but the task it’s tackling is quite serious. Researchers at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Derbyshire in Great Britain are using “Vomiting Larry” to learn more about how the infectious norovirus spreads. Vomiting Larry is a humanoid simulated vomiting system that expels a water and fluorescent liquid mixture enabling ultraviolet light to track the pattern and distance of expulsion, if you will.

We are all aware that the HSE states that an employer has to provide “adequate toilet and washing facilities for employees”, but is your washroom provision as good as you think?