Strategies for Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance: A Nursing Report

This report addresses the critical issue of hand hygiene compliance in healthcare settings, focusing on strategies to improve adherence among staff. The report identifies two key strategies: implementing training and education programs to enhance awareness and knowledge, and establishing monitoring and feedback systems to ensure compliance. The training programs emphasize the importance of hand hygiene, providing guidance on proper techniques and creating a culture of infection prevention. The monitoring strategy includes direct observation and the use of technology to track compliance, providing feedback to staff and identifying areas for improvement. Furthermore, the report explores the implications of these strategies for professional nursing practices, emphasizing the nurses' responsibility to maintain hand hygiene protocols to ensure patient safety. The report highlights the importance of washing hands at key moments, such as before patient contact, after exposure to body fluids, and after contact with the patient's surroundings. The report also underscores the need for nurses to maintain proper hand hygiene techniques, including the use of alcohol-based hand rubs and thorough handwashing with soap and water, and adhering to specific guidelines such as keeping fingernails short and avoiding artificial nails.

The Nurse Unit Manager
(NUM) has identified that
hand hygiene compliance
amongst staff on your ward
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
ASSIGNMENT ...............................................................................................................................3
2 Implication for professional nursing practices in implementing the identified strategies. ......7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
2

INTRODUCTION
Hand hygiene compliances are mandatory to be followed in health cafe home and care
settings so that infection could be avoided at the work place. Present report mention about two
strategies that could be used for making improvement in hand hygiene compliances and
strategies that could be used for effectively implementing the hand hygiene compliances in the
organization. In addition to that implication for professional nursing practices in implementing
the identified strategies have been explained.
ASSIGNMENT
Nurse and other health care professionals are accountable towards quality improvement
and change management practices. It is critical that better medical care should be provided to
patients so that their physical, mental and social well being can be ensured. Registered nurse that
are working across various care homes and health care setting are accountable for ensuring that
the planning and delivery of services should take account according to the perspective of the
patients (Parahoo, 2014). It is critical that care delivered such as professionals should render
effective care to all professionals. Clinical governance provide assurance that patient and care
provider's confidentiality for exercising individual clinical judgement should not be exercised.
More than 80% of diseases are caused due to the infectious transmission by touch.
3

(Source - Hand hygiene. 2017)
Proper and effective clinical governance also makes it ensure that unacceptable clinical
practices should be properly addressed and detected. It also makes it ensure that quality of
clinical care drives decision making about the provision, organization and management of
services should be ensured (Russell, Chan & New, 2014). Nurses are accountable for owning
nursing actions and professional conduct. Nurses are accountable for promoting the provision for
safe, appropriate and ethical care to the patients. Registered nurses also need for developing
policies and practices that should met with the standard of profession. They are also responsible
for maintaining current legislation so that all the necessary activities of care home should be met
(Twigg & McCullough, 2014).
It is critical that hand hygiene compliance should be maintained so that safety of patients
should be ensured. Effective strategies will aid for ensuring that patients that are admitted in the
hospital should be protected from infections. Two major strategies that could be used for
rendering services to the patients are as follows :-
4
Illustration 1: Hand hygiene

(Source- Hand hygiene. 2017)
 1- Training and education program :- Health care organization needs to give emphasis on
ensuring infection prevention in the care setting. It is critical that hand hygienic
compliance should be met properly so that better care and prevention should be provided
to the patients. Knowledge and awareness among all the care providers should be
enhanced so that they comply with the hand hygienic compliance. Training and education
programs should be properly tailored for health care professionals so that guidance
should be provided to them. With this it is also required that environmental cleanliness
should be enhanced so that risk of infection should be reduced (Kelly, Hopwood,
Rooney & Boud, 2016).
Systematic approach can be used for developing a culture where hand hygienic
compliance are followed properly. With this management of health care setting should also make
it ensure that there should be proper hand cleaning facilities available for employees that are
working in the care home. It should be made easier for cleaning hands so that proper facilities
should be make available for all the patients and it will aid for rendering better care to the
individuals. Sinks and gel dispensers should be at appropriate places so that it becomes easier for
people to wash their hands properly (Parker, Giles, Lantry & McMillan, 2014).
5
Ill
ustration 2: Hang hygiene

All the facilities should be available at convenient locations and design process should be made
effective so that people can access the hand washing facilities. Design process should be made
more effective so that hand hygiene can be incorporated as an important step so that staff
members can be given guidance for completing the hand washing process. Care homes can adopt
systematic approaches for implementing multiple strategies so that hand hygiene can be
maximized. All these approaches will help health care organizations for making enhancement in
hand hygiene procedures and improving viability (Byrne, Happell & Moxham, 2013).
During the training program proper directions can be given to staff members about the guidelines
that they need to follow fro the hand hygiene compliance. Care provides can be guided that they
needs to wash their hands before touching the patients and before a clean aspectic procedures. It
is also required that hands should be washed after body fluid exposure and after touching the
patients.
Hands also needs to be washed after touching the patients surroundings such as objects of
patients so that hand contamination could be avoided. It should be ensured that health cafe
workers should have access for the alcohol based hand rubs at point of patient care. Management
of care setting should focus towards creation of culture where due attention should be given for
following the hand hygiene compliance. Regular training programs can be organized for health
care workers so that they could be properly informed about the importance to hand hygiene.
Computer screen savers can be downloaded and posters can be put on boards so that awareness
can be created among staff members. In posters well defined hand hygiene procedures could be
explained and with this education campaigns could also be launched. Signs about hand hygienes
can be designed for giving emphasis on personal safety (Scanlon, Cashin & Buckely, 2016).
6

 2 Monitoring and feedback on compliance :- It is critical that proper supervision should
be done for inspecting whether staff members are following the hang hygiene guidelines
or not. Effective monitoring will aid for keeping regular check on all the staff members
and professionals not following the guidelines will be identified. Direct observation of
patients can be made so that effective monitoring can be done and on the basis of that
case of non compliance could be reduced (Roche, Duffield & Dimitrelis, 2015).
Techniques of direct observation comprise of in person monitoring for the hand hygiene
behaviour could be done. People who are assigned duty for observing hand washing behaviour
of other people could be duly supervised and monitored. Direct observation will help for taking
direct feedback for non compliance of hand hygiene guidelines. Proper documentation can be
created and names of people who are not following the hand hygiene compliance will be
mentioned under it.
Health care professional failing in meeting the guidelines can be given strict warnings for
following the guidelines. Strict punishments can be determined for the individuals who fails in
complying with the rules. A person can be given responsibility for mentioning the names of
individual who are not following hand washing guidelines. Regular feedback can be given to
people so that they can be made aware about the non compliance of hand washing behaviour.
Technology based direct observation can be made and advanced technical equipment will make
it possible for keeping eye on individuals who fails in following the guidelines (Hoffmann,
Bennett & Del Mar, 2013).
Digital instruments such as mobile devices and video monitoring will be used for ensuring
hand hygiene adherence. Mobile hand held devices could be used and it will aid for observing
7

the streamlined using a mobile hand with this faster and fair monitoring will be made possible.
Monitoring can also be done by making use of hand held devices and mobile app can also be
designed and developed so that supervision can be done effectively. Standardized monitoring
will be done and it will support for ensuring that hand hygiene compliances should be duly
followed (Twigg & McCullough, 2014).
Although there is need for making investments so that required objectives could be
achieved successfully and cases of infections could be reduced. One more innovative step that
could be taken is to develop an intelligence hand hygiene system. In this approach mobile
component could be developed. It will also help for keeping proper record of staff members who
have used hand hygiene standards. Real time monitoring can be provided and periodic reminders
can be send to staff members so that they can be informed about their hand hygiene behaviours.
New monitoring technology can be leveraged and implemented and with this it will aid in
ensuring that proper supervision of all the staff members can be done. Positive stakeholder
management can be involved and support of all the staff members could be taken for
implementing the hand hygiene compliances effectively. Cues can be developed for directing the
staff members towards ensuring that they are adhering with hand hygiene compliances.
It is critical that systematic and organized approach should be used for implementing
multiple strategies and it could be used for maximizing the impact of hand hygiene towards
prevention of infection. This approach could be used by care homes and other health care
organizations for making enhancement in hand hygiene (Scanlon, Cashin & Buckely, 2016). It
will also prove beneficial for making increment in improving safety and making improvement in
8

viability. Automatic reminders could be sent to the staff members and with this electronic
motion sensor activated hand hygiene reminder could be used in the firm.
One more innovative approach that could be used by organization is to make use of radio
frequency identification tracking system. It will help for identifying individuals who are failing
in complying with the hand hygiene rules. Proper monitoring could also be done so that proper
supervision should be done and employees can be provided with the conductive environment
where they have all the facilities for maintaining hand hygiene.
2 Implication for professional nursing practices in implementing the identified strategies.
It is vital that registered nurses should properly follow the guidelines that are made for
them. It is also essential that they should also comply with the guidelines that have been given to
them for hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is vary important for ensuring that patients should be
provided with the infection free environment. Nurses should properly follow hand hygiene
procedures so that they can provide better and effective care to the patients (Byrne, Happell, &
Moxham, 2013).
Five major areas where it is needed to wash hands properly is before touching patient
and nurses should keep it in consideration that they should properly wash their hands before
touching a patient. Second important time is before cleaning and aspectic procedure. It is
required that nurses should wash their hands.
It is also required that it should be developed into practice that hands should be washed
after body fluid exposure risk. After touching a patient also hands needs to be washed. When
nurses are coming from infected surrounding to a clean place than also it is required that hands
should be properly cleaned. When nurse are leaving the patient zone which comprise objects that
9

are being dedicated for patients than it is required that nurses should wash their hands. Some
other aspects of hand Hygiene also needs to be considered while giving care to patients (Twigg,
& McCullough, 2014).
It is requisite that nurse should not wear artificial fingernails or extenders while having
direct contacts with patients. One more requirement that is included in nursing is that they need
to keep natural nails short and standard size is (Tips less than 0.5 cm long and approximately ¼
Inch). Hand Hygiene techniques also needs to be followed and for that it is required that an
organized process should be used. Apply A palmful of alcohol-based handrubs required to be
used and it should cover all surfaces of the hands. Rub hands until dry and step by step
procedures should be used and specific technique for hand-rubbing should be used. While
washing hands nurses should their hands with soap and water amount of products should be
applied to cover all surfaces. Hands should be rinsed thoroughly with a clean single use towel.
Hand hygiene compliance makes it essential for all the registered nurse to follow the guidelines
so that infection could be avoided at work place (Hoffmann, Bennett & Del Mar, 2013).
Clean running water needs to be used and use of hot water should so that risk of
dermatitis should be reduced. A towel needs to be used to turnoff tap/faucet. Hands should be
dried by a method that should not recontaminate hands. It is to be made sure that towels should
not be used multiple times by multiple people and appropriate techniques for hand washing
should be used. For washing hands liquid, bar, powdered and leaf form is acceptable. When
nurses are using bar soaps is used. Small bars of racks should be used for facilitating drainage
should be used for allowing the bars to dry.
10

Duration of entire procedure for washing hands needs to be for 20-30 seconds.
Professional nursing techniques should be used and step by step process needs to be followed so
that hands should be washed effectively. The process start by applying a palmful of the product
in a cupped hand and covering all the surfaces. Hands should be rubbed from palm to palm and
right palm over left dorsum with interlaced fingers and vice versa. Palm to palm rubbing needs to
be done and after that backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked and rotational
rubbing of left thumb clasped in right palm needs to be done. After that rotational rubbing,
backwards and forwards with clasped fingers for right hand in left palm needs to be done. Once
gets dried hands are safe. This is a systematic procedure that needs to be used for hand hygiene
technique for making use of alcohol based formulation (Parahoo, 2014).
Hand hygiene compliances needs to be followed by all the registered nurses and it will
help for making it ensure that safe and conductive environment should be provided so that
effective hand washing procedures should be used by registers nurses. When strategies for hand
washing will be implemented than it will make it essential for the nurse and other health
professionals for complying with the guidelines that have been given by government.
Regular monitoring strategies will create fear among the staff members about the hygiene
adherence and due to that it will become easier for the maintaining appropriate safety in the
healthcare setting. Training and education program when successfully implemented will make
the nurses aware about the proper hand hygiene techniques so that they can clean themselves and
it will help for rendering better and effective care to the patients. Moreover, with this, strategies
that will be implemented will give impact on the professional nursing practices.
11

CONCLUSION
Summing up the present report t can be concluded that it is essential that in care homes
and other health care settings appropriate hand hygiene compliances should be followed. There
are various strategies that could be used for providing training to the staff members so that they
can be made aware about the hand hygiene compliances that needs to be followed by them. One
more approach that could be used is to monitor the process and it will help for identifying the
individuals that are not following the guidelines. Appropriate actions can be taken against those
people and it will support for effectively implementing hand hygiene compliances in the
organization.
12