Improvement of the Hand Hygiene System within Healthcare Organizations

This paper discusses the importance of maintaining adequate hygiene standards in healthcare organizations for the improvement of patient care. It highlights the issue of hygiene faced by healthcare organizations and the manner in which it affects the quality of patient care. The paper proposes the usage of the SwipeSense System for the improvement of hygiene standards and patient safety. It also provides an implementation and evaluation plan for the same.

Running head: IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM WITHIN THE HEALTHCARE
ORGANISATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PATIENT CARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Explanation of the Key Problem that the Improvement Intends to Address...................................3
Critical Analysis of the Change Required with Relevant Literature...............................................5
Proposal for Implementation and Evaluation..................................................................................9
Implementation............................................................................................................................9
Evaluation..................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

2IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
Introduction
As opined by Tarrant et al. (2017), the focus of the contemporary healthcare
professionals and also the healthcare organizations to which they are associated with is on the
improvement of the quality of the patient care or for that matter the treatment or healthcare
services which are being offered by them to the patients. Boamah et al. (2018) are of the
viewpoint that there are various factors which affect the quality of the patient care that is being
delivered to the patients like the qualifications or the capabilities of the healthcare professionals,
the resources which are being made available to them for offering the healthcare services, patient
safety, the hygiene system followed by the healthcare organizations and the professionals, the
different initiatives undertaken by the healthcare organizations. However, the major problem
arises because in the majority of the healthcare organizations especially the ones related to NHS,
UK it had been seen that because of low funding and other issues these aspects are completely
relegated to the background (Gandhi et al. 2018). The resultant effect of this is that the quality of
the treatment services or patient care which is being offered by these healthcare organizations
had deteriorated substantially in the present times.
Cho et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that the factor of hygiene greatly determines the
quality of the treatment services or for that matter the patient care which is being delivered to the
patients. As discussed by Graban (2018), this can be explained on the basis of the fact that if
adequate level of hygiene is not being maintained within the healthcare organizations chances
are high that the patients and the healthcare professionals are likely to get infected from the
infectious diseases that the patients suffer from. This in turn can adversely affect the quality of
the treatment services or the care that is being offered to the patients. Thus, it becomes important

3IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
for the healthcare organizations and even the professionals related to the same to take the help of
adequate hygiene systems for the improvement of the patients care. In this relation, it needs to be
said that taking the help of the recent technological advancements the healthcare organizations
have the opportunity to take the help of innovative hand hygiene systems like SwipeSense
System and others (Nydahl et al. 2017). Furthermore, through the usage of this hygiene system
that the healthcare professionals would be able to maintain adequate level of hygiene and thereby
reduce the chances of infection and thus substantially improve the quality of care (Moffa et al.
2019). It is on the score of these aspects that the healthcare organizations need to take the help of
this particular innovation for the improvement of the care or the healthcare treatment services
which they offer to the patients.
This paper intends to focus of the construct of hand hygiene system like SwipeSense
System and the likely benefits that the healthcare organizations, healthcare professionals and
even the patients are going to derive through the usage of the same. The paper begins by
highlighting the issue of hygiene faced by the healthcare organizations and the manner in which
it affects the quality of patient care which is being offered by them. Next, a critical analysis of
the hygiene system and particularly the SwipeSense System had been undertaken in the light of
the past literature related to the same. Finally, the paper concludes with a detailed
implementation and evaluation plan that the healthcare organizations can follow for the adequate
implementation and the evaluation of the suggested change.
Explanation of the Key Problem that the Improvement Intends to Address
Hall et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important factors which
determines the quality of the healthcare treatment services or for that matter the care which is

4IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
being offered to the patients is the factor of patient safety. As discussed by Braithwaite, Wears
and Hollnagel (2015), the healthcare professionals and the healthcare organizations need to
ensure the fact that effective measures or initiatives are being undertaken by them so as to ensure
that the patients are safe within the clinical setting and not subjected to different kinds of
infectious diseases. However, in the recent times it had been seen that because of the ineffective
hygiene system followed by the different healthcare organizations especially the ones related to
the NHS, UK the safety of the patients had been compromised and they had been subjected to
different kinds of infections (Doll, Stevens and Bearman 2018). This becomes especially
important from the perspective that the patients who opt for the healthcare or the treatment
services offered by the healthcare organizations or the professionals are suffering from different
kinds of health issues or ailments and thus if they are made prone to other infections then this can
have catastrophic results for the patients (Otter 2016). However, the major problem arises
because of the fact that the majority of the healthcare organizations associated with the NHS, UK
fail to take into account the aspect of patient safety into account because of the ineffective
funding that they receive presently from the national government of the nation of UK. In this
relation, it needs to be said that the amount of funding that the different healthcare organizations
associated with NHS, UK are presently getting is not adequate to maintain the different
departments of the healthcare organizations or even to pay the basic wages of the healthcare
professionals (Lorenzi 2016). Thus, it had become almost impossible for these healthcare
organizations to take the help of the recent technological advancements for the improvement of
the hygiene system that they are presently using.
In the light of these aspects, it can be said that the adequate usage of the SwipeSense
System is likely to help the healthcare organizations and also the healthcare professionals related

5IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
to the NHS, UK to effectively overcome the above mentioned issues. More importantly, the
adequate usage of the change under discussion here would also help the healthcare organizations
as well as the healthcare professionals to enhance the level of patient safety which in turn would
help them to enhance the quality of the treatment services or the care offered by them to the
patients (Bowman et al. 2019). This becomes especially important from the perspective of the
healthcare organizations and also the patients since through the improvement of the quality of
patients care, the healthcare organizations would also be able to effectively improve their brand
image which in turn would increase the number of patients that they would get (Muddukrishna et
al. 2016). Furthermore, the SwipeSense System is highly inexpensive and thus the usage of the
same is not likely to require the healthcare organizations to incur any substantial additional
charges (Doll, Stevens and Bearman 2018). More importantly, for the effective integration or the
usage of the SwipeSense System the healthcare organizations would be required to make the
minimum amount of changes within the management style which is being followed by them. In
addition to these, the usage of this change would not require the healthcare professionals to make
any substantial changes within the framework of the treatment or care delivery system which is
being followed by them within the spectrum of the healthcare organizations. Thus, it can be said
that the implementation of this change would be a highly beneficial as well as a suitable one
from the perspective of the different healthcare organizations of the nation of the United
Kingdom.
Critical Analysis of the Change Required with Relevant Literature
Korhonen et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that the primary objective of the different
healthcare professionals and also the healthcare organizations behind the treatment services or
for that matter the care which is being offered by them to the patients is to improve the health

6IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
condition of the patients and also to help them to recover from the health issues that they are
facing. As discussed by Morrow (2017), the healthcare professionals for the purpose of
delivering effective healthcare treatment services to the patients are firstly required to diagnose
the patients and the different symptoms shown by them to determine the exact cause of their
illness or for that matter the health issues faced by them. It is on the basis of the results of this
initial diagnosis performed the treatment services or adequate amount of care is being offered to
the patients. However, an important aspect that the healthcare professionals are required to take
into account while offering treatment to the patients is the aspect of patient safety. For example,
the healthcare professionals are required to ensure the fact that the treatment services which are
being offered by them are intended to improve the health condition of the patients or for that
matter the health issues faced by them and not aggravate the same (Chouhan et al. 2017). It is
precisely here that the aspect of patient safety gains prominence within the clinical setting or the
treatment services offered by the healthcare professionals to the patients and thus the
management team or the leaders are required to influenced the healthcare professionals to take
this aspect into effective consideration.
As discussed by Braithwaite et al. (2016), the entity of patient safety can be defined as
the process through which the healthcare organizations as well as the healthcare professionals
take responsibility for ensuring the safety of the patients through adequate reduction, prevention,
reporting and analysis of the medical or the human errors within the framework of the healthcare
services offered by them. In this relation, it needs to be said that the World Health Organization
(2019) considers the aspect of patient safety as an endemic concern for the different healthcare
organizations since almost 1 in 10 patients die every year because of the neglect of the entity of
patient safety. More importantly, a statistics revealed by the World Health Organization (2019)

7IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
states that on a global basis more than 400,000 patients had to suffer because of the ineffective
patient safety approach followed by the healthcare organizations. This can be explained on the
basis of the fact that the ineffective patient safety process followed by the different healthcare
organizations adversely affects the nature or the quality of the healthcare treatment or the care
which is being offered by them to the patients and in some of the severe cases leads to the death
of the patients as well (Carlson-Oehlers, Jung and Cohen 2017). In the light of these aspects, it
can be said that it had become imperative for the healthcare organizations and also the healthcare
professionals associated with them and also the management team or the leaders related to the
same to take into account the aspect of patient safety for the improvement of the nature or the
quality of treatment services or the care which is being delivered by them to the patients.
According to Liu et al. (2015), the healthcare organizations and also the healthcare
professionals in order to ensure the safety of the patients whom they are offering treatment
services need to take the help of adequate hygiene systems so as to ensure the fact that the
patients do not have to face infections on the score of the disregard of hygiene by the healthcare
professionals. For example, the healthcare professionals in a single day are required to
administer treatment services to a large number of patients and the majority of them suffer from
one kind of infectious disease or the other and thus it is likely that if adequate hygiene measures
are not being adopted by the healthcare professionals then these infectious diseases or the
pathogens causing them would be transferred from one patient to the another (Yin, Lim and
Chan 2019). This is actually detrimental from the interests of the patients since rather than curing
the diseases or the health issues faced by the patients faced by the patients this is likely to
aggravate the same. Thus, it becomes all the important for the healthcare professionals to use
adequate hygiene system to ensure the fact that they are being able to adequate or the right kind

8IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
of treatment services to the patients for the purpose of their treatment. In this relation, it needs to
be said that it is the job roles of the leaders or the management teams related to the healthcare
organizations to encourage the healthcare professionals to promote the usage of adequate
hygiene system so as to ensure the safety of the patients and thereby to improve the quality of
care that is being offered to the patients.
The effective usage of the SwipeSense System is likely to help the healthcare
professionals to take into account the aspect of hygiene or for that matter patient safety without
having to bear any additional amount of cost or wasting their time. For example, in the earlier
times the healthcare professionals were required to constantly wash their hands or for that matter
take the help of different kinds of sanitizers for the purpose of cleaning their hands after
checking the patients or for the purpose of following the hygiene stipulations of the healthcare
authorities of the nations (Fagert et al. 2017). However, as discussed by Pyrek (2018), an
important drawback of this hygiene system was the fact that it was not only time consuming but
at the same time the pathogens or the germs were not being removed through the usage of
sanitizers or simple washing. The resultant effect of this was that the germs or the pathogens still
remained in the hands of the healthcare professionals and infected the patients who they
administered treatment (Gandhi et al. 2018). In this relation, it needs to be said that with the
usage of the SwipeSense System the healthcare professionals or for that the patients do not have
to face these issues since the healthcare professionals are not required to constantly wash their
hands or use sanitizers (Boamah et al. 2018). As a matter of fact, all the healthcare professionals
are required to do for the usage of this equipment is to swipe their hands through the machine
and the germs or the pathogens get killed automatically because of the ultraviolet rays emitted by
the same. Thus, it can be said that the usage of this device or system while ensuring the fact that

9IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
the time valuable time of the healthcare professionals is saved also promotes adequate hygiene
standards. This in turn helps the healthcare professionals to take into effective consideration the
aspect of patient care which in turn helps them to improve the quality of the treatment services or
the care that is being offered by them to the patients.
Proposal for Implementation and Evaluation
Implementation
Cameron and Green (2015) are of the viewpoint that the success or for that matter the
effectiveness of the different changes which are being implemented within the spectrum of the
healthcare organizations greatly depends on the process that had been selected for the effective
implementation of the same. As discussed by Hayes (2018), this is important since the usage of a
systematic approach for the implementation of the different changes while ensuring the success
of the same ensures the fact that the resistance from the healthcare professionals and the other
key stakeholders is being mitigated in an effective manner. More importantly, it also ensures the
fact that the healthcare professionals and the other key stakeholders are being able to adequately
use the changes that had been implemented or for that matter derive the maximum amount of
benefit through the usage of the same (Steigenberger 2015). In the particular context of the
change initiative under discussion here, that is, the SwipeSense System for the improvement of
the patient care which is being offered to the patients the usage of the Critical Path Analysis is
likely to facilitate the implementation of the same. However, for the effective usage of the
Critical Path Analysis the healthcare organizations would have to follow the below given steps
and also the timeframe or the duration highlighted for the completion of each of the steps-

10IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
Steps or Activities Timeframe or
Duration
Identification of the issue 1 Week
Idea Generation 1 Week
Idea Identification 1 Week
Conveying information regarding the change idea to the management team
and the leaders
1 Week
Getting approval for the change 1 Week
Informing the healthcare professionals and the other key stakeholders
regarding the change
1 Week
Offering the required training, coaching and mentoring to the healthcare
professionals so that they would be able to use the change adequately
2 Week
Implementation of the change for a shorter duration or pilot 3 Week
Gathering data or feedback from the healthcare professionals or the
stakeholders on the basis of the pilot test
1 Week
Integration of the feedback 1 Week
Implementation of the modified or upgraded change 1 Week
Integration of the change within the organizational culture 3 Week
The above given table shows a detailed plan which can be followed by the different
healthcare organizations for the effective implementation of the change under discussion here. In
addition to the above mentioned steps, the healthcare organizations would also have to ensure the
fact that they are taking the help of adequate leadership approach for the effective

11IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
implementation of the change that had been selected for implementation. In this relation, Morin
et al. (2016) have noted that the process of leadership become an important one during the
process of change management because of the different important job roles performed by the
leaders during the same. As discussed by Cameron and Green (2015), the leaders during the
process of change management are required to effectively mitigate the resistance from the
healthcare professionals by explaining them the reasons for the changes which are being
implemented and also offering them the required coaching, mentoring, training and others that
will enable them to make the most out of the changes that are being implemented, formulating
the entire blue-print of the implementation process, undertaking the evaluation and the control of
the changes and other similar activities. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that it
becomes important for the healthcare organizations to take the help of adequate leadership
approach during the process of change management. In this regard, it can be said that one of the
most important leadership approaches that the healthcare organizations can use for the purpose
of facilitating the implementation of the changes is the framework of situational leadership. The
effective usage of this leadership approach would help the healthcare organizations to handle the
different situations which would arise during the implementation of the changes on the merits or
the importance of the same and thereby successfully undertake the implementation of the
required changes (Hayes 2018).
The healthcare organizations for the effective implementation of this have the
opportunity to take the help of Lewin’s change management model. Furthermore, the usage of
this change management model would require the healthcare organizations to take into account
its three important stages, namely, unfreeze, change and refreeze (Morin et al. 2016). For
example, in the first stage, the healthcare organizations would have to cascade adequate

12IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
information regarding the SwipeSense System to the healthcare professionals and the other key
stakeholders along with the reasons for the implementation of the same and the benefits that they
are going to get through the usage of the same. In the second stage, the healthcare organizations
would have to undertake the actual implementation of the change whereas in the third stage the
healthcare organizations would have to make it a permanent part of their organization through
the integration of the same within its organizational culture.
Evaluation
The evaluation of the change, that is, the SwipeSense System would be done on the basis
of the improvement of the patient care and also the other benefits that it would offer to the
healthcare professionals and the patients. In this relation, it needs to be said that the healthcare
organizations need to take the help of different kinds of measuring tools like survey, interview,
performance reviews, reduction in the number of complaints from the patients regarding the
ineffective patient care that they had received and others. The adequate usage of these measuring
tools would offer a fair idea to the healthcare organizations whether the objectives with which
they implemented the change had been achieved or not.
Conclusion
To conclude, the entity of patient safety had gained a substantial amount of prominence
within the contemporary clinical setting or for that matter the healthcare sector and it greatly
determines the quality of treatment services or care which is being offered to the patients by the
healthcare professionals. However, the major problem arises because the majority of the
healthcare professionals completely disregard the aspect of hygiene which often adversely
affects the quality of the care or treatment services which are being offered by them to the

13IMPROVEMENT OF THE HAND HYGIENE SYSTEM
patients. Thus, it can be said that the effective usage of the SwipeSense System is likely to help
the healthcare professionals to maintain adequate hygiene standards and thereby improve the
quality of care which is being offered to the patients. Furthermore, for the effective usage as well
as the implementation of the same the management team of the healthcare organizations would
have to use adequate implementation and evaluation measures.

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