December 16, 2005

Clean hands keep patients healthy and happy

Congratulations to Ellison 6, Ellison 14, White 11, Ellison 3, Phillips 22, Bigelow 11 and Ellison 7 for achieving the third-quarter goal of the 2005 MGH Hand Hygiene Clean Sweepstakes contest. These seven inpatient units met the compliance challenge of 70 percent before patient contact and 80 percent after patient contact. The Clean Sweepstakes is sponsored by the STOP — Stop Transmission of Pathogens — task force. It is a friendly competition among patient care units to encourage all MGHers to use Cal Stat — a waterless hand disinfectant — before and after patient contact to help reduce the rates of hospital-acquired infections and improve patient care.

Studies have shown that alcohol-based hand gels, such as Cal Stat, are more effective than soap and water in removing bacteria from hands. As part of the contest, MGH Infection Control Unit staff regularly visit the units to observe compliance with hand hygiene practices. Observation data is compiled on a quarterly basis, and compliance rates are calculated for each unit.

For the final quarter of 2005, any unit that achieves compliance rates of at least 80 percent before and 80 percent after contact with a patient or a patient's environment will receive a reward.

A special congratulations goes to Ellison 6 for already achieving this goal in the third quarter with a compliance rate of 82 percent before patient contact and 84 percent after patient contact. For more information about the contest, contact Rosemary O'Malley at (617) 726-9663.