One dirty pair of hands might be too much
Hospital Safety Connection, April 6, 2006
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Don't take chances with hand hygiene--make sure staff always wash their hands as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That advice is even more important during a survey from Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), says Vicky Zelenka, RN, CIC, the director of epidemiology at McLeod Health in Florence, SC.
Formally, three or more observations during tracers of staff not washing their hands will result in a requirement for improvement, according to the JCAHO's frequently-asked questions about the hand hygiene National Patient Safety Goal.
However, during a survey late last year at one of McLeod Health's facilities, surveyors issued a citation after noting just one staff member who didn't wash her hands, Zelenka says. Zelenka spoke during an HCPro infection control audioconference last week.
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