Here are five proven strategies for increasing hand hygiene compliance at your ASC.
1. Place hand sanitizers throughout the facility. Installing hand sanitizers throughout an ASC gives the facility an added reinforcement to fighting off infection. Athens (Ga.) Orthopedic Ambulatory Surgery Center installed hand sanitizer pumps and motion-sensor hand sanitizers on the walls of the surgery center. More recently, in the midst of ongoing construction, Athens has installed a motion-sensor hand sanitizer at the reception desk for patients and their family members to use as well. "We've strategically placed hand sanitizers in multiple areas, so no one has the excuse of not having ready access to washing their hands," says Denise Kesler, director of Athens Orthopedic ASC. "Also, it's not only accessible to the staff and physicians but also the patients and their families. This way, patients are able to sanitize their hands in the patient area prior to surgery."
From: 6 Best Practices for Implementing an Effective Infection Control Program
2. Fingernail hygiene. Artificial nails have been shown to harbor gram negative pathogens on their fingertips in healthcare settings, and have been linked to outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units. The Center for Disease Control strongly recommends that artificial nails and extenders not be worn when having direct contact with patients at high risk. Natural nail tips should be less than one-quarter inch long, and while nail polish does not increased the number of bacteria, chipped nails may support the growth of larger numbers of organisms on fingernails.
From: 3 Best Practices to Improve Hand Hygiene
3. Appoint a process owner. Although much more is written and available today to guide an infection preventionist in driving a hand hygiene program, it is imperative that efforts focus on systematic and sustainable solutions that yield higher compliance behavior. The IHI's How-to Guide: Improving Hand Hygiene states that once high levels of compliance are achieved, a "process owner" must be identified. The process owner is the person who will ensure that high levels of performance are maintained and help to troubleshoot key aspects of the hand hygiene program if the compliance rates fall.
From: 4 Tips for Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance
4. Audit physicians and staff members on compliance. By auditing physicians and staff members on how compliant they are to hand hygiene, ASCs can make better-informed decisions on how to carry out new protocols and regulations. Karen Smith, nursing director at Central Illinois Endoscopy Center in Peoria, audited Central Illinois Endoscopy's physicians and staff by observing and tallying how many times each individual washed his or her hands out of every 10 times. By the end of the audit, she found a very low percentage of them were following hand hygiene rules. "I took some work out to the main nurses' station where I could pretty much see everything that was going on and simply pretended to work," she says. "I had a tally sheet so I was able to tell in my report out of every 10 times how often a physician or staff member was washing their hands. Staff members and physicians weren't understanding that even if they go into a cubicle for one minute or pass a curtain that divides patient recovery areas, they still have to be compliant to hand hygiene protocol."
From: Case Study: 6 Practices for Improved Infection Control at Central Illinois Endoscopy Center
5. Attend workshops. As quality and infection control becomes more closely scrutinized in the healthcare industry, ASCs should take advantage of educational opportunities presented by federal and local organizations. Donna Smith, president of Alabama Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and administrator at The Surgery Center, says the Alabama Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers hosted an all-day workshop in partnership with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The workshop was geared toward empowering new infection preventionists with education on topics such as hand hygiene compliance monitoring, how to recognize surgical site infection and correct sterile reprocessing procedures. "The workshop is really for those who want to expand their infection control programs or those who may be new to the ASC industry," Ms. Smith says. "We hosted another workshop in which we invited the state CMS inspectors for an all-day workshop on the new conditions for coverage and life safety issues. These workshops are always very well-received."
From: 6 More Best Practices for Perfecting ASC Infection Control Programs
1. Place hand sanitizers throughout the facility. Installing hand sanitizers throughout an ASC gives the facility an added reinforcement to fighting off infection. Athens (Ga.) Orthopedic Ambulatory Surgery Center installed hand sanitizer pumps and motion-sensor hand sanitizers on the walls of the surgery center. More recently, in the midst of ongoing construction, Athens has installed a motion-sensor hand sanitizer at the reception desk for patients and their family members to use as well. "We've strategically placed hand sanitizers in multiple areas, so no one has the excuse of not having ready access to washing their hands," says Denise Kesler, director of Athens Orthopedic ASC. "Also, it's not only accessible to the staff and physicians but also the patients and their families. This way, patients are able to sanitize their hands in the patient area prior to surgery."
From: 6 Best Practices for Implementing an Effective Infection Control Program
2. Fingernail hygiene. Artificial nails have been shown to harbor gram negative pathogens on their fingertips in healthcare settings, and have been linked to outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units. The Center for Disease Control strongly recommends that artificial nails and extenders not be worn when having direct contact with patients at high risk. Natural nail tips should be less than one-quarter inch long, and while nail polish does not increased the number of bacteria, chipped nails may support the growth of larger numbers of organisms on fingernails.
From: 3 Best Practices to Improve Hand Hygiene
3. Appoint a process owner. Although much more is written and available today to guide an infection preventionist in driving a hand hygiene program, it is imperative that efforts focus on systematic and sustainable solutions that yield higher compliance behavior. The IHI's How-to Guide: Improving Hand Hygiene states that once high levels of compliance are achieved, a "process owner" must be identified. The process owner is the person who will ensure that high levels of performance are maintained and help to troubleshoot key aspects of the hand hygiene program if the compliance rates fall.
From: 4 Tips for Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance
4. Audit physicians and staff members on compliance. By auditing physicians and staff members on how compliant they are to hand hygiene, ASCs can make better-informed decisions on how to carry out new protocols and regulations. Karen Smith, nursing director at Central Illinois Endoscopy Center in Peoria, audited Central Illinois Endoscopy's physicians and staff by observing and tallying how many times each individual washed his or her hands out of every 10 times. By the end of the audit, she found a very low percentage of them were following hand hygiene rules. "I took some work out to the main nurses' station where I could pretty much see everything that was going on and simply pretended to work," she says. "I had a tally sheet so I was able to tell in my report out of every 10 times how often a physician or staff member was washing their hands. Staff members and physicians weren't understanding that even if they go into a cubicle for one minute or pass a curtain that divides patient recovery areas, they still have to be compliant to hand hygiene protocol."
From: Case Study: 6 Practices for Improved Infection Control at Central Illinois Endoscopy Center
5. Attend workshops. As quality and infection control becomes more closely scrutinized in the healthcare industry, ASCs should take advantage of educational opportunities presented by federal and local organizations. Donna Smith, president of Alabama Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and administrator at The Surgery Center, says the Alabama Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers hosted an all-day workshop in partnership with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The workshop was geared toward empowering new infection preventionists with education on topics such as hand hygiene compliance monitoring, how to recognize surgical site infection and correct sterile reprocessing procedures. "The workshop is really for those who want to expand their infection control programs or those who may be new to the ASC industry," Ms. Smith says. "We hosted another workshop in which we invited the state CMS inspectors for an all-day workshop on the new conditions for coverage and life safety issues. These workshops are always very well-received."
From: 6 More Best Practices for Perfecting ASC Infection Control Programs