Celebrate March’s hand hygiene champs

Sometimes doing the right thing for patients offers additional rewards. As part of its reinvigorated hand hygiene campaign, Asante Infection Prevention awarded a $10 coffee card to Alyssa Stanley, from ATRMC’s Emergency Department, and to Kailee Heideman and Jenniffer St. Onge, both of whom work in ARRMC’s Trauma Department.

Stanley received a candy bar that contained a golden ticket, earning her the instant prize. Heideman and St. Onge collected five “high five” cards for consistently performing hand hygiene, enough cards to redeem them for the $10 coffee card. All are automatically entered into a June raffle for a gift card.

Adherence to hand hygiene is on the rise. In March, ARRMC’s compliance exceeded 90%, ATRMC’s reached nearly 95% and AACH came in at 85%.

“Hand hygiene is trending up,” said Serena Branson, an analyst with Asante Infection Prevention. “However, there are opportunities to improve when entering and exiting rooms as well as before donning gloves.”

To further improve hand hygiene practices — the No. 1 most effective way to prevent the spread of germs — Asante has established a new oversight committee, standardized observation practices and appointed “hand hygiene champions”  trained in observation. These champions give incentives for staff members who model good hand hygiene practices.

To learn more, reach out to the Infection Prevention contact at your hospital: Filiberto Bencomo, ARRMC; Amalia Kieley, AACH; Gina McConnell, ATRMC; or Serena Branson, Asante Infection Prevention.