Implementation of the 5 Moments of Hand Hygiene Into a Qld Hospital
The Five Moments of Hand Hygiene
Implementation and Management within a Queensland General Hospital
The notion that hand-washing could reduce mortality has existed since Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfectant in obstetrical clinics in the mid 1800s (Wikipedia, n.d.). Florence Nightingale is renowned for her campaign that clean water, food and environment could reduce the death rates in military hospitals and her interest in hospital hygiene lasted the whole of her career. In more recent times, “Hand washing has been proven to be the single most important technique in the prevention and minimisation of the spread of infection within the hospital environment” (New South Wales Government, n.d.).
Approximately 3 years ago, the hospital being discussed in this paper (‘The Hospital’) introduced a Hand Hygiene Program in line with the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI), a national approach to improving hand hygiene based on the World Health Organization (WHO) – “Clean Care is Safer Care,” that was launched in 2005 (Hand Hygiene Australia, n.d.). The launch campaign consisted of posters, screensavers, distribution of polo shirts and stick pins. Alcohol foam hand sanitiser dispensers were installed on the foot of every patient bed, at the entrance to every ward and patient rooms and other strategic places within the hospital. Outside every patient room there is a “5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” poster. An education program was run solely by the Infection Control Clinical Nurse Consultant. The program consisted of small group face to face sessions and directions to the Hand Hygiene Australia online training for which a link was installed on the hospital intranet.
Standard 3 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is “Preventing and Controlling Healthcare Associated Infections.” One of the actions required to meet this standard is auditing of compliance
Implementation and Management within a Queensland General Hospital
The notion that hand-washing could reduce mortality has existed since Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfectant in obstetrical clinics in the mid 1800s (Wikipedia, n.d.). Florence Nightingale is renowned for her campaign that clean water, food and environment could reduce the death rates in military hospitals and her interest in hospital hygiene lasted the whole of her career. In more recent times, “Hand washing has been proven to be the single most important technique in the prevention and minimisation of the spread of infection within the hospital environment” (New South Wales Government, n.d.).
Approximately 3 years ago, the hospital being discussed in this paper (‘The Hospital’) introduced a Hand Hygiene Program in line with the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI), a national approach to improving hand hygiene based on the World Health Organization (WHO) – “Clean Care is Safer Care,” that was launched in 2005 (Hand Hygiene Australia, n.d.). The launch campaign consisted of posters, screensavers, distribution of polo shirts and stick pins. Alcohol foam hand sanitiser dispensers were installed on the foot of every patient bed, at the entrance to every ward and patient rooms and other strategic places within the hospital. Outside every patient room there is a “5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” poster. An education program was run solely by the Infection Control Clinical Nurse Consultant. The program consisted of small group face to face sessions and directions to the Hand Hygiene Australia online training for which a link was installed on the hospital intranet.
Standard 3 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is “Preventing and Controlling Healthcare Associated Infections.” One of the actions required to meet this standard is auditing of compliance
References: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (ACSQHC), 2011, National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, ACSQHC, Sydney. Matic, J., Davidson, P.M. & Salamonson, Y., 2010, ‘Review: bringing patient safety to the forefront through structured computerisation during clinical handover,’ Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20,184-189. Robinson, L., 2012, Mass Customisation, HLTH7202, Module 3, Online course notes, University of Queensland, Brisbane University of Queensland, 2012, The Sharp End of Healthcare, HLTH7202 Module 5.5, Online course notes, University of Queensland, Brisbane