February 20, 2004

Make a clean sweep: Contest to promote improved hand hygiene

It isn't a typical sweepstakes contest. No magazine subscriptions to buy. No deadlines to meet. No fine print to read. All that is required is for MGHers to strive to improve hand hygiene practices.

The STOP (Stop Transmission Of Pathogens) task force is launching the MGH Clean Sweep(stakes) — a competition among patient care units to have the highest hand hygiene compliance. The goal is to encourage all MGHers to use Cal Stat before and after patient contact. Studies have shown that alcohol-based hand gels, such as Cal Stat, are more effective than soap and water in removing bacteria from hands. The ultimate goal is to reduce the rates of hospital-acquired infections and improve patient care.

For the MGH Clean Sweepstakes, patient care units will be divided into clusters of four to six units (see chart below). These units will compete against each other every quarter. MGH Infection Control Unit staff will regularly visit the units to observe compliance with required hand hygiene practices. Observation data is compiled on a quarterly basis, and compliance rates are calculated for each unit. Each quarter, one unit from each cluster will win a Clean Sweepstakes prize.

In addition, each unit has selected one or more hand hygiene "champions," who can be resources for employees on proper hand hygiene techniques.

According to members of the STOP task force, the Clean Sweepstakes is meant to be a fun and friendly competition among the patient care units so that the hospital can improve hand hygiene compliance rates. Staff will compete to win prizes, but the ultimate winners will be MGH patients.

For more information about the contest, contact Rosemary O'Malley at (617) 726-9663, Victoria Brady at (617) 724-6433 or Christine Johanson at (617) 726-0275.