Teach your patients, too, for good infection control
October 1, 2002 2 minutes read
Post hand-washing techniques and provide info
While Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu does not have a major hand-washing initiative focused on patients, staff currently are reviewing a brochure on infection prevention strategies that is directed at patients and families, says Susan M. Slavish, BSN, MPH, infection control coordinator.
Staff do educate patients about infection control practices, including hand washing, in the medical center’s critical care units. Staff have placed signs in the rooms that outline specific infection control practices and hand washing is No. 1. Families also are encouraged to use the alcohol hand sanitizers that are available in all clinical areas of Queen’s Medical Center.
A flyer about preventing the spread of infection was placed in a patient information binder at Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals in Columbus, OH. "We also plan to stock the visiting areas and waiting rooms with this flyer so it will not only reach the patients but also their families," says Judy Bournique, RN, MT, ASCP, infection control coordinator. (See an example of a patient education sheet on hand washing published by The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, inserted in this issue.)
To improve education with patients and families at Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago, the nursing staff distribute a hand-washing bulletin that is published by the infection control department. Staff also distribute hand-washing articles to those visiting patients in isolation, says Trish Bednarz, BSN, RN, infection control coordinator.
Infection control professionals across the country have been teaching children about hand washing in creative and imaginative ways through community outreach efforts for many years, says Slavish. "Developing good hand-washing habits begins when we are children so introducing the information at an early age is important," she says.
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