Link: Prevention Experts Stress Importance of Hand-Hygiene Compliance.
Despite the fact that hand hygiene remains the most simple and effective means of reducing the transmission of germs, many clinicians do not consistently follow hand hygiene recommendations, such as those issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/
Prevention is everyone’s business – that of healthcare providers, administrators and patients. Infection prevention experts recognize that this recent change in regulations provides still further opportunity to remind everyone about the importance of hand hygiene either by the traditional soap and water method or by the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and other organizations collaborated with the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) last year to introduce the “Speak Up” initiative, designed to encourage patients to play an active role in their healthcare by asking questions and requesting that their clinicians wash their hands before performing an examination.
