It is imperative to explore leadership factors that influence nurse use of foam hand sanitizer or soap and water appropriately when cleaning their hands as they enter and leave each patients room. Those in leadership must determine if a higher level of involvement from leadership equals more frequent hand washing from other nursing staff. Leadership must also ensure that the nursing staff understands that implications of not washing their hands after seeing each patient. When each member of the nursing team understands the importance of hand washing, the unit they work on will function better and their patients will have better outcomes.
When cleaning or sanitizing something, you are removing the dirt, particles, and possible contaminates
that could make someone critically ill in the healthcare setting. In certain populations of patients, the risk for infection is greatly increased if hand washing does not occur often. The option to use hand sanitizer or soap and water will depend upon the contaminates that are on the nursing staffs’ hands and will also be based upon protocols of each hospital. A recent study shows that, “….soap based hand hygiene regimens have minimal antimicrobial activity and may not be sufficient to prevent transmission of some micro-organisms.” In contrast to that, the same study shows that, “…the use of alcohol hand rubs may not always be appropriate as they have limited effect on some viruses and some bacteria (Leonard, 2014).” With this knowledge, it is imperative that leadership determines where to draw the line when it comes to hand hygiene. Leadership must determine what is best for each patient and sometimes those decisions are situational. Sometimes those decisions must be made using nursing judgement and leadership will not be able to have a black and white answer. There is no “when in doubt, do this” statement to be made about hand hygiene. Each time the staff decides to clean their hands, they must remember the implications on their patients’ lives. A recent study states that, “Hand hygiene can be undertaken using soap and water, antiseptic solutions or alcohol based hand rubs (Leonard, 2014).” That same study also states that, “…there appears to be a lack of clarity among some practitioners as to which solution to use and anecdotal evidence of poor technique or cursory application when using non soap and water solutions (Leonard, 2014).” It seems that the key factor for better hand hygiene is more education about how to clean hands and in which way to clean them based on if they are visibly dirty or not. Leonard states that “In many situations where hands are visibly clean applying an alcohol hand rub may be sufficient before a basic clinical intervention, provided that the solution is applied to all areas of the hands which are not visibly contaminated with organic material.” A hospital wide study states that they, “used video cameras to monitor hospital workers as they entered and left patient rooms, but compliance was still low...” and once “researchers installed light- emitting diode boards in the hallway that announced hand- washing compliance rates and positive feedback was provided, compliance jumped…”(Cameras, 2012). Some hospitals may find it useful to install cameras and such in order to improve hand hygiene, but it is ultimately up to nursing leadership to determine what would be best for the staff and how staff would respond to different things that are implemented. In conclusion, it is imperative for nurses to be educated appropriately by those in leadership on hand sanitizer use versus soap and water use for the cleaning of hands. In some instances, the need for soap and water is not evident and in some instances, it is. The same goes for hand sanitizer usage after being in contact with patients. When nurses are educated appropriately, they are able to make sound judgements on which way to clean their hands effectively. Ultimately, effective hand washing will lead to better patient care and better patient outcomes, which increases patient satisfaction and leads to better morale among the unit.
Parents and teachers encourage children to wash their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, touching dirty objects, and sometimes before eating. Next to every tissue box there will most likely be a bottle of hand sanitizer that kills 99.9% of germs. Both hand soap and hand sanitizer kill off the germs and bacteria that can cause infections and diseases. Which one works best? The purpose of this experiment is to show which is more effective, hand soap or hand sanitizer (Bjornsson). To prove this, Bjornsson writes up a lab using the growth of bread mold to help identify the results of both products (Bjornsson). I believe that hand soap works better than hand sanitizers because doctors remind us that we should wash our hands especially during flu season to keep us healthy. Therefore, the hypothesis for this lab is that the hand soap will be the better alternative and will slow down the growth of bread mold more than the hand sanitizer in this experiment.
Whether soil particles are attached to carpet fibers, wood floors or restroom sinks, they need to be removed. But how is this done? Most of us wipe or scrub a dirty surface with soap and water without a second thought about how they actually work to remove soil. The process of removing dirt begins at the molecular level. In order to understand how soap works, we must first acknowledge what soap actually does.
patients. Girard’s (2011) study further enforces our belief on the importance of a nurse wearing their scrubs by the study’s outcome of “Fifty percent of adult visitors of pediatric patients rated a nurse’s uniform as a very important indicator of nurse professionalism, and only 10% thought it was not important at all.” (p.420) The majority of people placed a higher importance on a nurse’s uniform because it represents the nurse’s professionalism. If a nurse comes into work unprepared and having wrinkles on their uniform then the patient will believe that the nurse can’t take care of them because the nurse can’t take care of themselves.
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2009), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2002), and The Joint Commission (2009) recommend methods for monitoring performance and providing feedback to HCWs. Despite continuous efforts by managers to improve training and supervision, HCWs miss several opportunities to wash or sanitize their hands before touching patients or touching the patient care environment. Studies have shown that HH compliance among HCWs in the United States is at or below 50% (McGuckin, Waterman, & Govednik, 2009). Managers are compelled to improve their teams ' performance. (Mcguckin & Govednik, 2015, p.
I think that knowing these regulations and having them in my work place could help me progress as a professional because it will allow me that comfortably of not being afraid to shake someone’s hand before and after we meet. I also would not feel like a germ freak or anything of that nature knowing that everyone is following the same procedures. It’s very important to make sure that these regulations are being followed in our own work places to prevent any hazardous situations from taking place.
Polyurethane foam is typically used to make spray foam insulation. It is a superior alternative to runs of spun fiberglass sheeting used to weatherproof walls ceilings and attics. The foam creates a barrier to prevent heat from escaping during the winter, and it also keeps homes much cooler in the summer. Spray foam offers much better sealing, because it can fit down into all little nooks and crannies. It prevents even the smallest drafts due to this unique ability to fill the small spaces. The foam comes as closed-cell or open-cell types, and the choice depends upon your application. Closed-cell has a higher R value but is more expensive than open-cell.
This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As
The systematic review; Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care, conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration investigated inventions to improve hand hygiene compliance within patient care. The review included 2 original studies with an additional two new studies (Gould & Moralejo et al., 2010). Throughout the review it was affirmed that among hand hygiene is an indispensable method in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAI), the compliance among nurses’ is inadequate. Nurses are identified within the public as dependable and trustworthy in a time of vulnerability due to their specialised education and skills (Hughes, 2008). Thus, it is imperative that evidence based practice is cond...
Observation of the unit interface exemplified the need to identify, understand, and reject WPB with expectation to promote civility and cohesiveness, which would bring about a change to promote the best patient care. Under the auspice of EBP the nurses must rise to the challenge of delivering optimal patient care for it is imperative to evolve. To accomplish this standard a medium is needed for the process. The Iowa Model to improve quality of care considers all facets of the healthcare system, through established seven steps to change; this is one theoretical model to use for the mandate that all nurses must encompass the philosophy of EBP. One viewpoint is, would purging WPB stimulate civility and cohesiveness in the unit to
Thus, for the purpose of this paper, I will be describing a scenario that I witnessed where a Registered Care Aide (RCA) provided care in an inappropriate manner by means of hand hygiene and highlight the importance of infection control as a way to minimize nosocomial infections and contamination of the surrounding
Patient safety is a large concern for practices, nurses and doctors. There are many tasks and precautions that can be taken to prevent accidents in the work place, whether it involves patients or not. Florence Nightingale once said “The very first canon of nursing, the first and last thing on which a nurse’s attention must be fixed is to keep the air within as pure as the air without”. This quote is argued to be an analogy for keeping the patient safe and to return them to the same condition as before they fell ill. Patient safety is one of many top priorities in a nurse’s creed, right next to caring for the patient and returning them to proper health. It is the nurse’s responsibility to keep the patient as comfortable as possible. This has
A major failure observed in healthcare is the inadequate amount of supplies needed to execute a required task consequently disrupting providers of patient care to search for the needed supplies (Richardson et al., 2014; Tucker & Edmondson, 2003). This type of problem accounts for 86% of hospital failures and frustration among nurses (Ferenc, 2010; Tucker & Edmondson, 2003). Further more, nurse’s frustration comes from placing their patients safety on the line in lieu of hunting down the necessary materials (Ferenc, 2010). In addition, 16% of nurses reported that they had given up on searching for the needed supplies within a six-month period (Middleton, 2009). Tucker and Edmondson (2003) reported that nurses spent approximately one-hour
The sources used were retrieved from the online Shapiro Library. Electronic databases, including CINAHL were used to do a multi-search for sources. Key works used included nursing safe staffing and nursing staff ratios and patient safety. The criteria used to select the articles were peer reviewed articles within the last five years.
According to Duffield, Roche, Dimitrelis, Homer, and Buchan (2015), nurse leaders play a critically important role in staff morale and retention. In consideration of this, the most effective method of sharing these findings would be an initial one-on-one presentation with the nurse manager. Posters in key areas of the facility could possibly take care of any relationship education directed to the staff. In order to disseminate the information beyond one facility, there could first be one-on-one presentations with the other facility managers. If the information proved to be helpful, a submission to one of the national nephrology journals could be a
The purpose of his article was to find a better way to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) and explain what could be done to make healthcare facilities safer. The main problem that Cole presented was a combination of crowded hospitals that are understaffed with bed management problems and inadequate isolation facilities, which should not be happening in this day and age (Cole, 2011). He explained the “safety culture properties” (Cole, 2011) that are associated with preventing infection in healthcare; these include justness, leadership, teamwork, evidence based practice, communication, patient centeredness, and learning. If a healthcare facility is not honest about their work and does not work together, the patient is much more likely to get injured or sick while in the