Infection Prevention: Hand Hygiene
Kayla M. Fleming
Milwaukee Area Technical College
NRSAD 114: Management and Professional Concepts
October 16th, 2016
Infection Prevention: Hand Hygiene
It’s hard to imagine washing or sanitizing your hands every time you touch someone you’ve known for a very long time. Hand hygiene seems common place in hospital settings but may sometimes go lacking in long term care settings due simply to familiarity with the people being cared for. Regardless of the setting, the Clinical practice guidelines are the same. The purpose of this paper will be to explore the Long Term Care National Patient Safety Goal of Infection Prevention: Hand Hygiene, the Evidence-based guideline related to the National Patient Safety Goal and three of its recommendations, compare evidence and practice and review quality improvement recommendations. The Joint Commission states, “The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals is to improve patient safety. The goals focus on Problems in health care safety and how to solve them.” (jointcommision.org, 2016 National Patient Safety Goals list) Review of National Patient Safety Goal The Centers for disease Control and Prevention states that “On average, Healthcare workers clean their hands less than half of the time they should. …show more content…
On any given day, about one in twenty-five hospital patients has at least one healthcare associated infection.” (CDC, 2016, partial site paragraph). To promote patient safety and prevent this from happening Joint Commission has National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 07.01.01 Prevent Infection. For this goal, the hand cleaning guidelines from the centers for disease control and Prevention or the World Health Organization can be used. The NPSG is to set goals for improving hand cleaning and use the goals to improve hand cleaning (jointcommision.org, 2016 National Patient Safety Goals list). Clostridium Difficile So why is all of this important? An article titled “Clostridium Difficile Infection in Long Term Care Facilities: A Call to Action for Antimicrobial Stewardship”, the prevalence of Clostridium Difficile is discussed. Baby Boomers are America’s largest generation to enter into their elderly years to date. Nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and long term acute care hospitals will be greatly affected by their need for care. The biggest obstacle in their care may prove to be the rise of Clostridium Difficile Infection. (Chopra & Goldstein, 2015, Abstract) Clostridium Difficile is just the one example of many organisms that require hand washing that will be discussed. “Clostridium Difficile is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life threatening inflammation of the colon.” (mayoclinic.org). Because C. difficile is spread in feces, any surface or device that becomes contaminated can serve as a reservoir for C. difficile spores. C. difficile spores resist desiccation for months and can persist on hard surfaces for as long as 5 months. (Gerding, 2008, Pg. 2). With a bacterium that last for such a long period of time, Hand Hygiene becomes of significant importance. “C. difficile spores are not killed by alcohol and the most effective way to remove them from hands is through hand washing.” (Gerding, Muto, & Owens, Jr., 2008, Pg.3) New Technology Compliance to Hand Hygiene is important for preventing infection. In an article titled “New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene”, the development of some new ways of determining compliance are being developed. The article details the development, advantages and disadvantages and how the technologies work but …show more content…
(2016, April 28). Hand hygiene in healthcare settings. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/index.html
Cherry, B., Jacob, S. R., RN, S. K. B., & Barbara Cherry DNSc MBA RN NEA-BC (2013). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management, 6e (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA, United States: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Chopra, T., & Goldstein, E. J. C. (2015). Clostridium difficile infection in long-term care facilities: A call to action for Antimicrobial stewardship. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 60(suppl 2), S72–S76. doi:10.1093/cid/civ053
Gerding, D. N., Muto, C. A., & Owens, Jr., R. C. (2008). Measures to control and prevent Clostridium difficile infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 46(s1), S43–S49. doi:10.1086/521861
Retrieved October 14, 2016, from https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/2016_NPSG_LT2_ER.pdf
Marra, A. R., & Edmond, M. B. (2014). New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 20(1), 29–33. doi:10.1111/1469-0691.12458
Retrieved October 15, 2016, from
Kayla M. Fleming
Milwaukee Area Technical College
NRSAD 114: Management and Professional Concepts
October 16th, 2016
Infection Prevention: Hand Hygiene
It’s hard to imagine washing or sanitizing your hands every time you touch someone you’ve known for a very long time. Hand hygiene seems common place in hospital settings but may sometimes go lacking in long term care settings due simply to familiarity with the people being cared for. Regardless of the setting, the Clinical practice guidelines are the same. The purpose of this paper will be to explore the Long Term Care National Patient Safety Goal of Infection Prevention: Hand Hygiene, the Evidence-based guideline related to the National Patient Safety Goal and three of its recommendations, compare evidence and practice and review quality improvement recommendations. The Joint Commission states, “The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals is to improve patient safety. The goals focus on Problems in health care safety and how to solve them.” (jointcommision.org, 2016 National Patient Safety Goals list) Review of National Patient Safety Goal The Centers for disease Control and Prevention states that “On average, Healthcare workers clean their hands less than half of the time they should. …show more content…
On any given day, about one in twenty-five hospital patients has at least one healthcare associated infection.” (CDC, 2016, partial site paragraph). To promote patient safety and prevent this from happening Joint Commission has National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 07.01.01 Prevent Infection. For this goal, the hand cleaning guidelines from the centers for disease control and Prevention or the World Health Organization can be used. The NPSG is to set goals for improving hand cleaning and use the goals to improve hand cleaning (jointcommision.org, 2016 National Patient Safety Goals list). Clostridium Difficile So why is all of this important? An article titled “Clostridium Difficile Infection in Long Term Care Facilities: A Call to Action for Antimicrobial Stewardship”, the prevalence of Clostridium Difficile is discussed. Baby Boomers are America’s largest generation to enter into their elderly years to date. Nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and long term acute care hospitals will be greatly affected by their need for care. The biggest obstacle in their care may prove to be the rise of Clostridium Difficile Infection. (Chopra & Goldstein, 2015, Abstract) Clostridium Difficile is just the one example of many organisms that require hand washing that will be discussed. “Clostridium Difficile is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life threatening inflammation of the colon.” (mayoclinic.org). Because C. difficile is spread in feces, any surface or device that becomes contaminated can serve as a reservoir for C. difficile spores. C. difficile spores resist desiccation for months and can persist on hard surfaces for as long as 5 months. (Gerding, 2008, Pg. 2). With a bacterium that last for such a long period of time, Hand Hygiene becomes of significant importance. “C. difficile spores are not killed by alcohol and the most effective way to remove them from hands is through hand washing.” (Gerding, Muto, & Owens, Jr., 2008, Pg.3) New Technology Compliance to Hand Hygiene is important for preventing infection. In an article titled “New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene”, the development of some new ways of determining compliance are being developed. The article details the development, advantages and disadvantages and how the technologies work but …show more content…
(2016, April 28). Hand hygiene in healthcare settings. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/index.html
Cherry, B., Jacob, S. R., RN, S. K. B., & Barbara Cherry DNSc MBA RN NEA-BC (2013). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management, 6e (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA, United States: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Chopra, T., & Goldstein, E. J. C. (2015). Clostridium difficile infection in long-term care facilities: A call to action for Antimicrobial stewardship. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 60(suppl 2), S72–S76. doi:10.1093/cid/civ053
Gerding, D. N., Muto, C. A., & Owens, Jr., R. C. (2008). Measures to control and prevent Clostridium difficile infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 46(s1), S43–S49. doi:10.1086/521861
Retrieved October 14, 2016, from https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/2016_NPSG_LT2_ER.pdf
Marra, A. R., & Edmond, M. B. (2014). New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 20(1), 29–33. doi:10.1111/1469-0691.12458
Retrieved October 15, 2016, from