A Useful Approach to Hand Hygiene. The Finger Paint Method
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A study published in
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
comparing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC’s) three-step hand hygiene process using hand rubs with the World Health Organization's (WHO's) six-step process gained tremendous media attention and had everyone talking about hand hygiene.
These hand hygiene directions by the CDC
1
and WHO
2
might be best absorbed through what I like to call “
The Finger Paint Method
.” These are practice exercises that you can do in a quick, 10-15 minute in-service for healthcare staff. You will have to prepare by purchasing washable finger paint from a toy store or art supply store in advance, but it will be well worth it.
The Finger Paint Method
:
- Ask healthcare professionals to put on gloves.
- Place a dollop of the washable finger paint on their hands.
- Ask them to close their eyes and begin to wash their hands as they normally would.
- Count to at least 20 seconds and ask them to stop.
- Have everyone open their eyes and look at all of the places on their gloves where there is no finger paint.
This fun exercise really opens peoples' eyes to how they can make improvements in their own hand hygiene practice.
Angela Vassallo, MPH, MS, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Prevention Specialist, Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG)
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California APIC Meeting: Friday, February 2, 2018
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT
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Meeting Venue:
Office of Council Member Bob Blumenfield, 19040 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Speaker:
Angela Vassallo, MPH, MS, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Prevention Specialist at Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) on a project funded by CMS to help reduce Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) in Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) and will speak on “
SSI Reduction in ASCs: A Collaborative Approach.
”
This event is at no cost—all are welcome to join!
If you are unable to attend this meeting in person, please join via Zoom (an online webinar platform) or by calling in.
-or-
Join by Telephone: 1.669.900.6833 or 1.646.876.9923
Meeting ID: 182 735 923
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As surgeons, nurses, and infection preventionists, we are aware of the role hand hygiene and safe injection practices play to help reduce SSIs in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Over the last eight years, CMS has made a concerted effort to emphasize other initiatives that target such factors as normothermia, glycemic control, and antibiotic choice and timing in the hospital operating room setting to further reduce the occurrence of post-operative infection. HSAG has been in the forefront of these activities, working with hospitals to adopt evidence-based practices which lower SSI rates and improve patient outcomes. With the expansion of our Special Innovation Project, HSAG is taking a similar approach for ASCs that uses best practices in the ambulatory setting to ensure SSIs become a thing of the past for ASCs.
The February 2, 2018, California APIC meeting will feature HSAG’s Infection Prevention Specialist, Angela Vassallo, MPH, MS, CIC, FAPIC, who will address the collaborative approach to SSI reduction in ASCs. We hope to see as many of you as possible at what will undoubtedly be a valuable and informative meeting.
Howard Pitluk, MD, MPH, FACS, Vice President for Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer, HSAG
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The Joint Commission—Effective January 1, 2018: Individual Hand Hygiene Failures to be Cited Under IC, NPSG Standards
Hand hygiene is widely known to be the most important intervention for preventing healthcare-associated infections. Surveyors also will continue surveying an organization’s hand hygiene program to National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 07.01.01.
Read more.
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This material was prepared by Health Services Advisory Group, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for California, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. Publication No. CA-11SOW-ASC-01232018-01
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