mize that risk.
7. Continue to push hand hygiene
Poor hand hygiene happens for two reasons: People either forget, or
they find it very difficult to practice, depending on the circumstances.
One study (osmag.net/yRXZ8d) found that for anesthesiologists, compli-
ance with recommended guidelines simply wasn't feasible.
Anything you can do to make compliance easier is a plus, whether
it's taking advantage of technology that monitors the number of times
each dispenser has been used, posting signs that remind people to
wash for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday," or sponsoring
hand-hygiene fairs and passing out containers of hand sanitizer and
having people compare culture plates taken from hands that have
been washed with those that haven't been.
"We need to take hand hygiene more seriously in all settings," says
Mr. Myers. Some forethought and planning helps: If staff members dry
their hands with paper towels in the bathroom, are they throwing those
towels out before they touch the door handle (and get their hands dirty
again)? Having a wastebasket next to the door, so users can use the
paper towel to open the door, then toss it, is a simple, but effective,
solution.
8. Clearly delineate cleaning responsibilities
It's easy to assume that everyone knows where his cleaning responsi-
bility begins and ends. It's also dangerous. "I'll walk into an ASC
sometimes and say, 'Who cleans this IV pump?'" says Mr. Myers. "And
a nurse will say, our medical assistant does that. Then I'll ask the med-
ical assistant the same question, and he'll say, the nurse does that."
Point made. You may not have to single out every item, but you
should at least make categories of responsibility clear — for example,
1 3 1
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
