Whether it's soap-and-water handwashing or using an antiseptic hand wash, an alcohol-based handrub (ABHR), or a surgical hand antisepsis product, hand hygiene remains a cornerstone of infection prevention and control practice. Despite indications that hand hygiene can help control the transmission of infectious microorganisms as part of a multi-modal approach, as well as innovations in product and dispenser design to enhance the user experience, hand hygiene rates remain sub-optimally low.
This guidebook is designed to provide an overview of some of the imperatives related to hand hygiene in healthcare settings, including barriers to compliance, healthcare personnel behavioral issues, the importance of proper hand hygiene, compliance monitoring, product evaluation and selection, and much more.
Whether you are an infection preventionist needing to educate clinicians and other healthcare personnel about hand hygiene, or a healthcare worker or other hospital stakeholder who needs to brush up on the basics of hand antisepsis, this guidebook has something for everyone. The take-away message is that hand hygiene is the responsibility of everyone, and serves as a foundation for other infection control practices in a multi-modal intervention bundle.
Strengthening Defenses: Integrating Infection Control With Antimicrobial Stewardship
October 11th 2024Use this handout to explain the basics of why infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship are essential and how the 2 fields must have a unified approach to patient and staff safety
The Critical Role of Clean Hospitals in Infection Control: Why You Should Join the Initiative
October 3rd 2024Clean Hospitals promotes global healthcare environmental hygiene, reducing infections and antimicrobial resistance. Join the movement to improve patient safety and staff protection through Clean Hospitals Day.
The Long-Term Care Chronicles: The Great Mitigators
August 27th 2024Enjoy this first installment of The Long-Term Care Chronicles With Robbie Hilliard, MSN, RN CIC, a column about managing special infection control situations in the long-term care patient population. This installment is about when 2 experts conflict about best care.