Hospital Patients Can Have Impact on Infections by
Encouraging Staff to Wash Hands
New hand hygiene video empowers patients to remind
hospital caregivers to clean their hands, a strategy that is critical in
the fight to prevent infections
Dec. 14, 2009 – New research shows that a video by
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can be an effective
tool for encouraging patients to remind healthcare staff to wash their
hands, which helps prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
These infections reportedly kill 100,000 hospitalized people a year.
The research tested the effectiveness of a CDC
video called Hand Hygiene Saves Lives. The video encourages patients,
family and visitors to play a role in their own care by helping
healthcare professionals remember to clean their hands before and after
touching patients.
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After the video was shown to patients in 17 CHP
facilities, patients were twice as likely to report reminding nurses to
wash their hands, and doctors were twice as likely to report being asked
by patients to wash their hands.
"Research has shown that hand hygiene adherence
among medical professionals is less than optimal, despite long-standing
evidence showing that it helps prevent healthcare-associated infections
(HAIs)," said Dr. John Jernigan of the CDC.
"This video is a tool hospitals can use to empower
patients to participate in their own care and reduce their risk of
acquiring an infection by reminding care givers to perform hand
hygiene."
There are approximately 1.7 million HAIs and nearly
100,000 associated deaths among hospitalized patients each year. In
addition, infections cost the healthcare system between $35-45 billion
annually.
"Preventing HAIs is a high priority goal at all CHP
hospitals, and we believe that patients can partner with us to assure
safe and high-quality care," said Carolyn Wieging RN, BSN, CIC,
Infection Prevention and Control Manager, St. Rita's Medical Center.
"This video encourages that partnership by making
it clear that it is perfectly acceptable to ask care givers to wash
their hands to reduce their risk of infection."
"We are pleased to see that the video we developed
with the CDC is having such a positive impact on patient empowerment,"
said Christine Nutty, RN, MSN, CIC, 2009 President of the Association
for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
which helped to create Hand Hygiene Saves Lives.
"Hand hygiene is the number one way to prevent the
spread of infection, so these are really encouraging results. We hope
this leads to increased hand hygiene compliance and improved patient
outcomes."
"Before every airline flight, passengers are shown
a safety video so they know how to respond in an emergency," said
Victoria Nahum, Executive Director of the
Safe Care Campaign, which helped to develop Hand Hygiene Saves
Lives.
"We need the same safety resources in healthcare.
This video teaches patients how to minimize the risk of infection and is
providing tools to take action and advocate for highest quality care."
After watching the video, the majority of patients:
● reported that the video increased their
knowledge about hand hygiene;
● reported that the video is a useful tool to
educate patients about hand hygiene; and
● recommended that the video be shown to other
patients.
"Nurses and doctors work every day to deliver the
best patient outcomes, and our data confirm that care givers recognize
the importance of hand washing as a strategy for preventing infections
in patients and themselves," said Gina Pugliese, RN, MS and vice
president of the Premier Safety Institute.
"The majority of doctors and nurses said they would
feel comfortable being asked by a patient or family member to wash their
hands, recognizing the need for a reminder. This research shows that
patient empowerment should be just one more tool we employ as part of
our multi-pronged approach to improve hand washing."
Free video for hospitals
The Premier Safety Institute will provide free DVD
copies of Hand Hygiene Saves Lives to any hospital that requests it from
its
Safety Store Web site.The video can also be downloaded directly from
the
CDC Web site, or free DVD copies may be ordered from CDC by calling
1-800-CDC-INFO.
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