A Clinical Lab Session Experience: Hand Hygiene and Patient Safety

This assignment is a reflective journal entry detailing a student's experience in a clinical lab session. The student observed a colleague failing to adhere to proper hand hygiene protocols, specifically regarding thoroughness of washing and nail length. The student intervened, emphasizing the importance of hand hygiene to prevent the transmission of microorganisms and protect patient safety. The reflection covers the student's feelings, an evaluation of the situation, an analysis of the incident's implications for patient care, and a proposed action plan for future scenarios. The Gibbs reflective cycle is used to structure the reflection, providing a framework for learning from the experience and improving professional practice. References to relevant literature on hand hygiene and infection control are included to support the student's analysis and recommendations.

Running head: A CLINICAL LAB SESSION EXPERIENCE
A Clinical Lab Session Experience
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Date of Submission

A CLINICAL LAB SESSION EXPERIENCE 2
A Clinical Lab Session Experience
Description
During one of my clinical laboratory sessions, I witnessed a case whereby a colleague
failed to observe the proper hand hygiene guidelines. She was in a hurry rushing to go and attend
to a patient who needed frequent monitoring. I observed that she did not pay attention to
thoroughly washing in between her fingers, partway up her wrists and under her fingernails.
Additionally, she hurriedly proceeded to drying off her hands, a procedure that she carried out
ineffectively. From where I was standing, I could see that her hands were still moist. She was
about to make patient contact with hands that were not thoroughly washed or dried and this
increased the risk of her transmitting microorganisms and bacteria to the patient. I felt that I had
to do something about it so I stopped her and offered to check on her patient who I was familiar
with his condition because I had already washed my hands appropriately. I advised her to
carefully wash and dry her hands first then join me in checking on her patient. As I was
addressing her, I noticed her long fingernails that were about ¾ inch long and advised her to
particularly pay attention to washing beneath the nail tips. Care providers are supposed to
maintain their nails at ¼ inch (Joy, 2012).
Feelings
This incident made me feel that health care workers are constantly putting patientsat the
risk of suffering from hospital-acquired infections. It is important that healthcare providers
observe hand hygiene in an effective and timely manner to ensure patient safety (Hammerling,
2015). The low compliance with hand hygiene before and after making contact with a patient
increases the risk of spreading microbes. These microbes are in turn capable of causing
avoidable hospital acquired infections. (Pitter, 2013).

A CLINICAL LAB SESSION EXPERIENCE 3
Evaluation
One good thing that came out of this situation is that I managed to stop the nurse from
attending to a patient without observing proper hand hygiene. This may have helped prevent the
transmission of bacteria to the patient. Further, I reminded the nurse to effectively carry out the
hand washing routine before going to make contact with her patient. However, the nurse
continued to maintain her long fingernails while attending to patients and this risked the carrying
of biological contaminants under the long fingernails. I should have advised her to observe the
policy that requires care providers to maintain nails at ¼ inch since hers were about ¾ inch.
Analysis
Hand hygiene in the clinical setup is very important prevention of infections. Nurses
should observe hand washing guidelines to prevent patients from acquiring infections. However,
from this incident, I think that nurses trivialize the basic hand hygiene guidelines and this speaks
volumes of their professionalism. It also undermines their regard for patient safety because they
risk transmitting microbes to patients that can cause infections (Graban,2016). These infections
can make patients severely ill and even cause death (Smiddy, Oconell & Creedon, 2015).
Conclusion
Instead of advising the nurse to pay more attention to washing beneath her long nails, I
should have advised her to trim them. They were at ¾ inch and this was way above the
recommended fingernails length of ¼ inch. Additionally, I should have set some time to together
go through all the hand hygiene guidelines that help ensure that patient safety is upheld.

A CLINICAL LAB SESSION EXPERIENCE 4
Action plan
If such a situation ever arose in future, I will handle things differently. I would prioritize
observing hand hygiene instead of rushing to attend to my patient. While washing my hands, I
would consider the sink already contaminated and avoid touching it. I would then proceed to turn
the water on with a paper towel then wet my hands and wrists. From there, I would work soap all
over my hands until a lather forms and vigorously rub together all areas of my hands for
15seconds. I would pay attention to washing in between fingers, under my fingernails and
partway up my wrists. I would then proceed to rinse my hands under the stream of water since
the running water would carry away any dirt or debris. Finally, I would completely dry my hands
with a paper towel and avoid touching any contaminated surfaces on my way to the point of care.
Gibbs model of reflection
The Gibbs reflective cycle has assisted me in reflecting and thinking through all the
incidents that I have experienced throughout my development and professional practice as a
student nurse. The six phases are useful in structuring the reflection of the incident and in
helping people learn from these experiences (Kumar, 2016).

A CLINICAL LAB SESSION EXPERIENCE 5
References
Graban, M. (2016). Lean hospitals: improving quality, patient safety, and employee engagement.
CRC Press.
Hammerling, J.A. (2015). A review of medical errors in the laboratory and where we are today.
Laboratory Medicine, 43(2), 41-44.
Joy, S. D.S (2012). Hand Hygiene in Hospitals. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 110(7),
66-67.
Kumar, K. (2016). Reflection and its uses in Problem solving and Personal Development.
Pitter, D. (2013). Improving compliance with hand hygiene in hospitals. Infection Control &
Hospital Epidemiology, 21(6), 381-386.
Smiddy, M. P., Oconell, R., &Creedon, S. A. (2015). Systematic qualitative literature review of
healthcare workers’ compliance with hand hygiene guidelines. “American journal of
infection control, 43(3), 269-274.