Hand Hygiene
Hand Hygiene among health care workers today plays a central role in preventing the transmission of infectious agents. Even through the Joint Commission requirements that Centers for Disease Control and prevention hand hygiene be implemented in hospitals, compliance among health care workers still remain low. It has been determined many germs and infections have been passed to the patient from a health care worker. Hand hygiene is simple, but it’s also repetitive and dull. It is very easy to slip the mind of a nurse with a fast tract job.
Hand washing should be done before confronting a patient and also after any interacting with a patient. Many times this process is by passed. Although it is an easy thing to forget it is the hospitals duty and responsibility to keep the patients safe. Hospitals may best improve the importance’s of hand hygiene by educating more, making sanitizing products more available and holding the staff accountable. It is very important as a nurse to understand the importance of good hand hygiene in order to keep patients and other staff members as safe as possible by limiting the amount of germs and infections passed around.
After reading this article on hand hygiene I have learned that hand hygiene, although very important it is often by-passed and how important it is to implement this simple procedure to ensure better safety for the patient and the staff. Infections can so easily be transfer form one person to the other with just one touch. We as nurses must practice this ritual continuously. Also it is a great protection for oneself against obtaining some infection and passing it on. We must continue to educate everyone on the importants of good hand hygiene. Wash, Wash, Wash! Make this an everyday habit to ensure that everyone’s safety is being up held.