Hand hygiene is an important step caregivers can take in preventing hospital-acquired infections. But according to an article posted on Infection Control Today, research shows that nurses and other caregivers often don’t follow recommended guidelines for hand hygiene – and are only in compliance less than half of the time.
"Nurses often are overworked and get busy and sometimes cut corners in their work. This might mean they skip handwashing because they feel they don’t have the time," says Cheryl Wagner, PhD, MSN/MBA, RN, associate dean of graduate nursing programs at American Sentinel University.
Wagner sites short staffing and inadequate training as contributing factors to low compliance rates.
Because of this need for education, nurses with infection prevention expertise are even more important. While these specialists have always worked to educate staff on tracking and preventing infections, the financial stakes have recently gotten higher. Under new Medicare rules, hospitals will no longer be reimbursed for treating certain kinds of hospital-acquired infections that have been deemed preventable.
Read the article.
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