February 11, 2005

Clean hands make a difference

Members of the STOP — Stop Transmission of Pathogens — task force have a good reason to celebrate the hard work of MGHers this past year. According to reports from the Infection Control Unit, there has been a new and steady decline of hospital-acquired infection rates since last year. The change started in early 2004, which leads STOP task force members to believe that it could be attributed, in part, to the reinvigorated Hand Hygiene program and the introduction of the Clean Sweepstakes rewards program, a contest among patient care units to reward the highest hand hygiene compliance.

The infection rate decline was mostly for the two most prevalent hospital-acquired infections — methicillin-resistant Staphylcoccus aureus (MRSA) — a type of staph infection — and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Because these infections are often resistant to antibiotics, they can be particularly difficult to treat. According to many studies, when health care workers consistently disinfect their hands before and after every patient care encounter, these infections can be significantly reduced or prevented. Using alcohol-based antiseptic hand gel such as Cal Stat can be more effective than using soap and water to remove bacteria from hands.

"Although other factors can affect our infection rates, it is very exciting to think that we are all making a difference for our patients through improved hand hygiene," says Judy Tarselli, RN, of the MGH Infection Control Unit and the STOP task force.

To further improve the hospital's infection rates, standards have been set higher for the first quarter of the 2005 Clean Sweepstakes contest. For this quarter, any unit that achieves both a compliance rate of at least 50 percent before and 80 percent after contact with a patient or a patient's environment will receive a special reward. For more information about the Clean Sweepstakes, call Rosemary O'Malley at (617) 726-9663.