Healthcare worker's skin 'first point of defence'
Infection control co-ordinator says hospital employees understand importance of good hand hygiene
Monday October 6, 2008 -- Natalie Miller
The hands of a healthcare worker are often their tools, which makes good hand hygiene a critical issue, says an infection control co-ordinator.

"We talk about our skin being the first point of defence against infection," says Margaret Jay of Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Appropriate hand-washing can stop the spread of infection from patient to patient but also keep healthcare workers' safe.

"Our skin is our protection as well."

Jay is commenting following last week's release of a report by Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter about the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections.

The auditor general's office visited three hospitals in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor to evaluate whether they followed best practices for the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections.

While all had made a number of changes to guard against these infections, the auditor general found "more needs to be done and we believe most of our observations apply to the hospital community at large."

"Quite simply, a key first step is that all hospital staff — from doctors to nurses to cleaning personnel — must frequently wash their hands."

Jay says the importance of proper hand-washing is resonating at PRHC.

"I believe it is getting across — the message of good hand hygiene."

PRHC recently introduced the province's 'Just Clean Your Hands' campaign. She says the Ministry of Health has provided posters, literature and auditing tools.

As well, Peterborough's new hospital has hand-washing sinks in all patient rooms and several wall-mounted alcohol-based hand rinse stations throughout the hospital at point-of-care stations, outside and inside patient rooms and at the elevators, for instance.

In regards to hand hygiene compliance, Jay says the hospital is just finishing up compiling initial baseline data.

She says from a data perspective "it's too early to tell" if the program is making a difference. However, targeting hand-hygiene efforts in the past did increase compliance, she notes.

At the 10 hospitals that participated in the 'Just Clean Your Hands' pilot project, including one the auditor general's office visited, compliance with the rules of good hand hygiene ranged from 40 to 75 per cent.

"People really do feel they are doing it right," Jay suspects.

Which is why, she says, more education is needed about when they should wash their hands.

There are four key points when hand-washing is critical. Those moments are: before entering a patient environment, before an aseptic procedure, after bodily fluid exposure and after leaving a patient environment.

— More to come

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