Hey, have you washed your hands?

Mrs Claire Nayda¹, Ms  Terri  Cripps¹, Mrs  Trish  Maldigri¹, Ms  Jillian  McKee¹, Ms Renee  Thurston¹, Captain  Starlight¹

¹Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, Sydney, Australia

Introduction

Results from the 2017 and 2018 National Standards Compliance Survey of Inpatients revealed that one of the greatest concerns families identified was “Getting an infection in or after my hospital stay”. A third of survey participants did not feel comfortable asking staff if they have washed their hands. These findings required addressing and were an opportunity for action to engage with and empower families to advocate for their children.

Methods:

1. Brainstorming amongst our team.
2. Asked Captain Starlight for assistance.
3. Discussed the issues and desired outcomes with key stakeholders.
4. Worked with Captain Starlight to develop storyboard, music and lyrics to create a video that would engage patients and families;
5. Worked with Public Relations to develop additional material to promote World Hand Hygiene Day.

Results:

“Hey, have you washed your hands?” became our Network’s motto. Educational video and other promotional resources were created. The video was launched on World Hand Hygiene Day on the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network Facebook page. It received over 17,000 views, 195 likes and seventy shares.

Conclusion:

Hand hygiene continues to be an issue that requires ongoing attention to reduce hospital acquired infections and increase consumer confidence in our hospitals. This relates intimately with our next plan, to work with our Families and Consumer Council, to address the concern regarding “getting an infection in or after my hospital stay”.

Biography:

Claire’s career of over thirty years in paediatric nursing located in hospital, community, public health and nursing regulation in Australia and the UK. Claire has a passion for patient safety and has been involved in quality and innovated projects to improve patient health outcomes and access to services

Over the last ten years Claire has been working at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and from 2016 joined a great team of people in infection prevention and control who are dedicated and passionate to improving patient health outcomes.