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Hand Hygiene Compliance Essay

944 Words4 Pages

Hand-hygiene compliance is a crucial issue that needs to be addressed by all healthcare providers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States has found that hand washing is "the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection" (20). Moreover, hospitals spend an estimated $50 million annually on antibiotics (20) to combat infections caused by healthcare staff that fail to comply with proper hand-hygiene procedures. A shocking number of patients become even sicker because they acquire healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) while in the hospital (20). Patients enter the hospital to be treated; however, healthcare providers that fail to properly follow hand-hygiene guidelines spread HAIs. Statistics shows that 1 in 9 patients admitted to hospitals are diagnosed with a new infection because healthcare staffs are not …show more content…

Hand-hygiene compliance has been a part of healthcare practice since the early 1840s. During 1840s in Europe, the term "childbed fever" came into use to describe a condition experienced by 25% of women who gave birth to babies (19). To combat the spread of this condition, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis educated people on the need for washing their hands with a chlorinated solution before examining women in labour (20). As a result of this hand-hygiene education, the mortality rate dropped to less than 1%, saving many people 's lives (20). Asking student nurses and volunteers to wash their hands before caring for a patient is similar to asking them not to text and drive. People know that texting while driving is unsafe, but they still do it anyways because they believe that nothing will happen to them. However, people fail to realize that their actions put those around them at great risk. It is necessary to teach student nurses and volunteers that their failure to follow hand-hygiene guidelines puts their patients at dire

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