Take ‘4 Moments for Hand Hygiene’
Monday December 10, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
The provincial government has released a new best practice guideline about hand hygiene for healthcare workers.

The piece, ‘Your 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene’, outlines at a quick glance when healthcare workers should wash their hands.

Step one involves washing up before initial patient or environment contact. Clean hands before touching a patient or any object or furniture in the patient’s immediate surroundings. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says this preventative step aims to protect the patient, the healthcare workers and the environment from harmful germs.

Step two involves washing before an aseptic procedure. This protects the patient against harmful germs, including the patient’s own germs, from entering his or her body.

Step three involves washing after risk of exposure to body fluid. Clean hands immediately and after the removal of gloves. This protects the healthcare worker and healthcare environment from harmful germs.

Step four involves washing up after contact with a patient and his or her environment. The Ministry advises cleaning hands after touching a patient or any object or furniture in the patient’s surroundings. This aims to protect the patient, the worker and healthcare environment.

The information is part of the province’s ‘Just Clean Your Hands’ hand hygiene program aimed at improving healthcare compliance in regards to hand-washing. Proper hand-washing may be a simple concept but according to a Canadian study, the average hand hygiene compliance rate among healthcare workers in Ontario is 32 per cent. This means healthcare workers are not cleaning their hands as often as they should.

The six month test phase began in March 2007 and will be used to evaluate the implementation process and the effectiveness of the program in changing hand hygiene behaviour of healthcare workers, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says.

Ten hospitals were selected to take part based on their overall application letters, evidence of management support and their geographic location and patients served. The implementation phase is six months in duration, during which an external observer will return to collect interim data and compile results at the end.

The program also involves a skin care component which allows healthcare workers to sample different hand sanitizers and lotions. Maintaining skin integrity is an issue for healthcare workers and can often be a barrier to washing as frequently as necessary.

“Hand hygiene is the number one way to help prevent the spread of microorganisms that can cause infections,” Susan McLeod, a registered practical nurse and project co-ordinator of the Provincial Hand Hygiene Improvement Program at Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora, earlier told HIROC News.

Participating hospitals include: Lake of the Woods, Kirkland and District Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, Niagara Health System, Quinte Health Care, South Lake Regional Health Centre, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and University Health Network.