The International Patient Safety Day becomes the World Patient Safety Day

Patients and visitors are currently not heavily involved in infection prevention measures. However, the Robert Koch-Institute recommends to actively involve patients and visitors in measures of hand hygiene for the time of their hospital stay. Read on to learn more about how patients can contribute.

DISINFACTS 2/2019

Variety is the name of the game. That’s again the motto of the latest DISINFACTS — for you to enjoy a wide range of topics, ranging from psychology in hand hygiene and HARTMANN’s My Hygiene SOP to digital monitoring of work processes and the protection against multidrug-­resistant pathogens in
outpatient care.

World Hand Hygiene Day: Clean care for all

Under the banner of “Clean care for all—it’s in your hands”, on 5 May 2019, WHO calls for a global commitment to achieving access to quality healthcare services and hygienic patient care.
Better hand hygiene and the establishment of WHO’s eight core elements—fundamental infection prevention measures—is crucial for achieving this goal.

International Day of Patient Safety:

Patients and visitors are currently not heavily involved in infection prevention measures. However, the Robert Koch-Institute recommends to actively involve patients and visitors in measures of hand hygiene for the time of their hospital stay. Hygiene expert Prof. Dr. Axel Kramer explains, in which other situations hand hygiene measures can be reasonable.

Benefits of hand disinfection: Also proved for when at home or travelling

Contrary to current media reports, which say that it is pointless or even dangerous to perform hygienic hand disinfection at home or when travelling, it has been proven that this measure may help prevent infection. Here, you will find the recommendations of leading hygiene experts.

Noroviruses: Efficient hygiene management to prevent infection

Although being more active during the winter months, noroviruses may also cause infections and outbreaks in the summer. To prevent further spread it is important to strictly observe certain hygiene measures – with focus on hand hygiene. Learn more and download our concise infographic.

How is your Hospital’s Hand Hygiene Compliance?

Take the test to find out the hygiene management status in your healthcare setting.

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Success of multimodal hand hygiene programmes

Hygiene experts throughout the world agree: in order to improve compliance, strategies need to target the differing barriers and obstacles to successful hand disinfection at several levels. The success of multimodal programmes is due to a mix of, for example, training courses, the availability of products, observation, and feedback.

Studies: Multimodal hand hygiene programmes improve compliance

The effectiveness of multimodal programmes is at the focus of many scientific investigations. The studies, including a recent review, show: evidence-based multimodal interventions are capable of increasing hand hygiene compliance significantly and thus reducing the nosocomial infection rate.

Table: Hygiene measures in the event of MRGN

Multi-resistant Gram-negative pathogens are on the rise worldwide. Due to the limited possibilities for treating infections, hygiene measures for preventing the transmission of pathogens are key. Depending on the pathogens’ resistance patterns and the hospital area concerned, basic hygiene needs to be complemented by further measures.

Study: Disposable wipes increase surface disinfection compliance

In a comparative study, pre-soaked disposable wipes resulted in significantly better employees’ compliance than the bucket method. The disposable surface disinfection wipes also performed better in terms of time needed and costs.