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ABSTRACT: Hand hygiene compliance, which is influenced in part by human behaviour, is central to infection prevention in all care settings. This article focuses specifically on the importance of a multimodal strategy for continued hand hygiene improvement, and its relevance to community nursing. Additionally, the article addresses the challenges and opportunities of infection prevention and control in a community context, and highlights current national and international guidelines that offer a framework and set of principles for implementation and sustainability with a specific focus on the multimodal strategy associated with the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (2009). The authors conclude with some considerations for community nurses when addressing translation of these principles into their everyday working context.
British journal of community nursing 03/2012; 17(3):S24-S29.
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ABSTRACT: The World Alliance for Patient Safety is an evolving programme of the WHO, established to raise the profile of patient safety within the global health care agenda. The decision taken in 2004 to focus the effort and attention of the First Global Patient Safety Challenge on the problem of health care-associated infection (HAI) is testimony to the fact that HAI is a significant patient safety hazard and continues to harm patients in the 21st century. Much of this harm is avoidable through better application of measures which already exist including universal implementation of hand hygiene improvement methods. Action on hand hygiene improvement is therefore at the core of the First Challenge, and field testing of the WHO implementation strategies developed in conjunction with the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (Advanced Draft) is on track to complete by the end of 2008. Following this, a revised and updated guideline and suite of implementation tools will be published by the WHO. It is important to note that the First Global Patient Safety Challenge has mobilized an unprecedented number of countries over a short timeframe to commit to take action on HAI.
Journal of infection and public health. 01/2008; 1(1):4-10.
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ABSTRACT: Healthcare-associated infection is a major safety issue affecting the quality of care of hundreds of millions of patients every year in both developed and developing countries. To meet the goal of ensuring patient safety across healthcare settings around the globe, the World Health Organization launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety in October 2004. Healthcare-associated infections were identified as a fundamental work priority and selected as the topic of the First Global Patient Safety Challenge launched by the Alliance. Under the banner "Clean Care is Safer Care", the Challenge aims at implementing several actions to reduce healthcare-associated infections worldwide, regardless of the level of development of healthcare systems and the availability of resources. Implementation strategies include the integration of multiple interventions in the areas of blood safety, injection safety, clinical procedure safety, and water, sanitation and waste management, with the promotion of hand hygiene in healthcare as the cornerstone. Several initiatives have been undertaken to raise global awareness and to obtain country commitment to support action on this issue. The new Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, including the most consistent scientific evidence available, have been issued in an advanced draft form. An implementation strategy is proposed therein to provide solutions to overcome obstacles to improvement in compliance with hand hygiene practices, together with a range of practical tools for use in healthcare settings. The latter are currently undergoing testing in several pilot sites to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.
Journal of Hospital Infection 07/2007; 65 Suppl 2:115-23. · 3.39 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Each year the treatment and care of hundreds of millions of patients worldwide is complicated by infections acquired during healthcare. The impact of healthcare-associated infection may imply prolonged stays in hospital, long-term disability, massive additional financial burden, and deaths. ACTION: Patient safety is a global issue that affects both developed and developing countries. In October 2004, the World Health Organization launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety to co-ordinate and accelerate improvements in patient safety internationally. A core element of the Alliance is the identification of a topic to be addressed as a Global Patient Safety Challenge over a two-year cycle. The first topic chosen for 2005-2006 is healthcare-associated infection. PERSPECTIVES: The Challenge aims at implementing several actions to tackle healthcare-associated infections worldwide, regardless of the level of development of healthcare systems and the availability of resources. Implementation strategies include the integration in different healthcare settings of multiple interventions in the areas of blood safety, injection safety, and clinical procedure safety, as well as water, sanitation, and waste management, with the promotion of hand hygiene in healthcare as the cornerstone.
International Journal of Infectious Diseases 12/2006; 10(6):419-24. · 1.94 Impact Factor
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Julie Storr
Health estate. 12/2003; 57(10):48-9.
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ABSTRACT: This article surveys the ward nurse's role in reducing the risk of infection. Recent developments in infection control are discussed, including nationally generated initiatives and how these might be implemented.
Nursing standard: official newspaper of the Royal College of Nursing 19(41):56-64; quiz 66.
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Julie Storr
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ABSTRACT: The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) is a key contributor to the national drive to reduce avoidable health care-associated infections (HAIs) through the implementation of the cleanyourhands campaign. The campaign is based on international evidence of the most effective methods for achieving a sustained year-on-year improvement In compliance with hand hygiene (Larson et al, 2000; Pittet et al, 2000) and is targeted at NHS staff working in the acute sector.
Nursing times 101(8):50-1.
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ABSTRACT: This article explains the reasons associated with low compliance with hand hygiene policies. The authors suggest a range of strategies that nurses can adopt to reduce the number of avoidable infections developed by patients.
Nursing standard: official newspaper of the Royal College of Nursing 18(40):45-51; quiz 52, 54.
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Nursing times 107(14):11.
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ABSTRACT: Patient empowerment is a new concept in health care that has now been extended to the domain of patient safety. Within the framework of the development of the new World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, the authors conducted a review of the literature from 1997 to 2008 to identify the evidence supporting programs aimed at encouraging patients to take an active role in their care. Patient empowerment is an integral part of the WHO hand hygiene multimodal strategy. Hand hygiene promotion strategies that have demonstrated evidence of successfully empowering patients include one or all of the following components: educational tools, motivation and reminder tools, and role modeling. What is important is that programs and models to empower patients must be developed with an inbuilt evaluation component that includes both qualitative and quantitative measures to determine not only what works but under what conditions and within which organizational context.
American Journal of Medical Quality 26(1):10-7. · 1.64 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Invasive devices, such as urinary catheters and peripheral and central venous catheters, can form part of essential patient care and may provide life-saving support and treatment. However, the invasive nature of these devices and the vulnerability of patients can increase the risk of acquiring a healthcare-associated infection (HCAI). This article highlights the importance of best practice in relation to insertion and management of invasive devices, incorporating hand hygiene, to reduce the risk of HCAI. Although the information can be applied to invasive devices in general, the focus is on urinary catheters.
Nursing standard: official newspaper of the Royal College of Nursing 26(41):42-6.
