Hand-Hygiene is a critical evidence based practice that has been researched and found to be the number one way to decrease the spread of infection within the healthcare and community setting

Hand-Hygiene is a critical evidence based practice that has been researched and found to be the number one way to decrease the spread of infection within the healthcare and community setting. Hand Hygiene is one of the toughest compliance processes to implement in the industry. Circumstances that influence adherence to hand hygiene practices that were self-reported include; agents cause dry skin or irritation of skin, too busy, and no administrative support to name a few (Garrett, J. H., Jr., 2013, January 9). In our facility, we have adopted the “gel in/gel out” mantra set forth by the CDC. Our nursing staff is required by policy to use hand sanitizer upon entering a patient room and exiting the room, regardless of patient contact. To comply with this program, we added dispensers of gel outside most our patient rooms so visitors and staff can have access to gel dispensers. Our facility uses our infection control nurse to monitor hand hygiene and if the nursing staff are adhering to the policy. The numbers at our facility are higher than the national average at 75 % I believe we are doing something right to adhere to this evidence based practice.
Reference
Garrett, J. H., Jr. (2013, January 9). Evidence-Based Approaches to Hand Hygiene: Best Practices for Collaboration. Retrieved November 07, 2016, from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/evidence-based-approaches-to-hand-hygiene-best-practices-for-collaboration.html