Hand
Here at Townsville Day Surgery, we are always finding ways to try prevent the spread of infection. Improved healthcare worker hand hygiene is the highest priority area to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
Hand hygiene is another name for hand washing or cleaning. Hand hygiene is a simple and important way of preventing the possible spread of infection through contact. While our hands may look clean, there are many germs and bacteria invisible to the eye. We can unknowingly transmit bacteria and infection to others and our environment.
At Townsville Day Surgery, we educate, monitor and audit our staff and Visiting Medical Practitioners to ensure they are understand how to correctly perform hand hygiene and ensure they are undertaking at the right time.
Each opportunity for hand hygiene is called a “moment”. Five moments for hand hygiene have been identified by the World Health Organisation as the critical times when hand hygiene should be performed in a hospital. These are:
- BEFORE TOUCHING A PATIENT
- BEFORE A PROCEDURE
- AFTER A PROCEDURE
- AFTER TOUCHING A PATIENT
- AFTER TOUCHING A PATIENT’S BELONGINGS OR SURROUNDINGS
Our Nurse Unit Manager is often seen observing our staff and Visiting Medical Practitioners as they go about their day treating patients. At the end of each audit period, we calculate an overall score. Our staff and Visiting Medical Practitioners have a high compliance rate with hand hygiene.
