UK Campaign Confronts Poor Hand Hygiene

Article

David Holyoake, PhD, MSc, a senior lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, reports in Nursing Times on how a group of nursing students identified that a new system of "supporting, shaming and blaming" would encourage healthcare professionals to wash their hands.

Holyoake explains that during a workshop designed to improve healthcare processes, the students changed their thinking from perceiving handwashing as merely an act of hygiene, to seeing it as a social behavior that is part of a larger organizational system.

Holyoake says that during an experiment, the nursing students challenged traditional health promotion messages -- traditionally focusing on how the individual can make a difference and explored how healthcare institutions unintentionally allow cross-contamination and infections to persist. He says that a series of compelling posters were created from the experiment and that individuals began to rethink their approaches to hand hygiene.

To read more from Nursing Times, CLICK HERE.

Reference: Holyoake D (2010) Rethinking traditional handwashing learning. Nursing Times. 106:35, early online publication Sept. 4, 2010.

Related Videos
Rare Disease Month: An Infection Control Today® and Contagion® collaboration.
Lucy S. Witt, MD, investigates hospital bed's role in C difficile transmission, emphasizing room interactions and infection prevention
Chikungunya virus, 3D illustration. Emerging mosquito-borne RNA virus from Togaviridae family that can cause outbreaks of a debilitating arthritis-like disease   (Adobe Stock 126688070 by Dr Microbe)
Ambassador Deborah Birx, , speaks with Infection Control Today about masks in schools and the newest variant.
Woman lying in hospital bed (Adobe Stock, unknown)
Deborah Birx, MD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (Adobe Stock, unknown)
CDC (Adobe Stock, unknown)
Inside Track with Infection Control Today
Related Content