Hand Hygiene Compliance Paper

Words: 465
Pages: 2

Healthcare facilities and healthcare workers are under consistent pressure from patients, insurance companies, state agencies and federal health officials to reduce the number of hospital acquired infections. Proper hand hygiene is the first line a defense to meet this demand. Recognizing that most of hospital acquired infections can be prevented has the medical community searching for best practice for compliance and striving to get back to the basics. Years of undisputed evidence show that strict adherence to hand hygiene reduces the risk of cross-contamination of infections. The purpose of this paper is to compare Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority policies with Sentara RMH Medical Center hand hygiene compliance policies. Comparing the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Hand Hygiene Policy to Sentara RMH corporate policy, both recognize the importance of strict hand hygiene as the first line of defense to lower healthcare-associated infections. Patient Safety Advisory Pennsylvania Board’s (2014) article asserts “Despite professional and regulatory guidance, healthcare worker compliance with hand …show more content…
The challenge is implementing a hand hygiene compliance program that continues to work, every day with every encounter. Hands may become contaminated by simply touching a patient’s skin, an object in the patient’s room or even taking their blood pressure. Patient Safety Advisory Pennsylvania Board’s (2014) article asserts “A robust hand hygiene improvement program begins with an assessment of barriers to optimal practice. A facility-specific assessment targets hand hygiene system problems, workplace reminders, safety climate, training, evaluation, and feedback on resources, knowledge, compliance, and leadership” (p. 163). Implementing policies and procedures to deal with individuals with a low hand hygiene compliance rate could prove