Kenora hospital deems ‘Just Clean Your Hands’ a success
Lake of the Woods District Hospital witnesses better hand hygiene compliance
Thursday December 20, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
With the convenience of hand sanitizer stations at patients’ bedsides and increased staff education about proper hand-washing and hand-cleaning, a Kenora, Ontario hospital is creating a better culture around hand hygiene.

Susan McLeod says the above is a result in part of Lake of the Woods District Hospital’s participation in the provincial government’s ‘Just Clean Your Hands’ campaign. McLeod is a registered practical nurse and project co-ordinator of the Provincial Hand Hygiene Improvement Program at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

“There’s a real heightened awareness of the importance of proper hand hygiene throughout the hospital as a result of the pilot project,” says McLeod.

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is one of 10 hospitals in Ontario that took part in the pilot project aimed at improving upon current healthcare workers’ hand hygiene practices. McLeod says Lake of the Woods applied to participate in the program because the hospital already uses safe practices and wanted the opportunity to participate in a provincial initiative.

Throughout the course of the nine-month pilot project, Lake of the Woods tested and evaluated the program. A final audit comparing hand hygiene compliance rates from the start of the project, at interims and its completion, shows an increase of 25 per cent, notes McLeod. “The real test of the success of the pilot was if the compliance rates increased at the final audit. The goal of the project was to realize incremental, sustainable improvement from beginning to end.”

McLeod attributes the success of the project to a team approach, the formation of a hand hygiene committee and the appointment of hand hygiene role models. “The champions and role models were very active in getting other staff members on board.”

The project involved the installation of hand sanitizer dispensers at every patient’s bedside, baseline surveys for healthcare workers to complete on hand hygiene, as well as focus groups for physicians and healthcare workers. Representatives from each of the hospital departments selected role models whose faces were part of the poster campaign promoting the program. As part of the project, 95 per cent of healthcare care workers completed an online education module based on Provincial Infectious Disease Advisory Committee’s best practices for hand hygiene.

The program also involved a skin-care component which allowed 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.

The overall program was well-received at the hospital, she says. About 350 staff members were involved. Lake of the Woods is an 86-bed acute care hospital located approximately two hours from Winnipeg, Manitoba. It serves about 16,800 Kenora residents, an additional 2,000 people in surrounding areas and eight First Nations communities as well. In the summer, the hospital also serves cottage dwellers.

The official pilot project has now ended.

— More to come