Making hand hygiene and glove compliance for infection control practitioners is a major concern at Blue Thunder Technologies. Better compliance with aseptic protocol helps to prevent infections acquired by insufficient compliance which accounts for many health-acquired infections per year, not to mention annual deaths. The cost in human life is unacceptable. The cost to the bottom line is avoidable.
How to Increase Compliance
Health care workers being willing to repeatedly wash their hands and risk skin irritation in the process is a factor. Some simply do not comply or comply sporadically. Significant boosts to compliance with hand hygiene occur when the product is effective without being harsh as well as the product being conveniently placed. Education and motivational on the effects of not following the appropriate protocols also help increase compliance.
We urge our clients to make hand-hygiene compliance an automatic behavior among their health care workers. This means making products and gloves easily available and convenient. Touchless technology helps by detecting automatically detecting hands beneath a dispenser spout. This not only provides ease of use but helps to eliminate cross contamination. In addition, the measured application minimizes waste and saves money.
Three important steps that will help increase protocol compliance among health care workers are:
- Use of a good product.
- Clear education on when gloves need to be used.
- Availability of the right products 24/7.
The Role of Gloves
Gloves are an effective defense against hand contamination especially in manufacturing environments and when caring for infectious patients.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the use of gloves for Hand Hygiene in health care settings to:
- Reduce risk of infection transfer from patient to health care worker and vice versa.
- Prevent health care flora being transmitted to patients.
- Reduce transient contamination by flora that can be transmitted from one patient to another.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) dictates the use of gloves when health care workers anticipate coming into contact with blood or any infectious materials that might be infectious. Also when performing vascular access procedures.
At Blue Thunder Technologies, we are dedicated to staying abreast of the latest breakthroughs in product innovation in hand hygiene and glove issues as they relate directly to better compliance of healthcare workers with protocol and increased protection for both workers and patients.
