By Healthcare Facilities Today

Kimberly-Clark has created a hand hygiene education program, The Klleenex Clean Hands Care Program,  as a comprehensive approach to hand hygiene. The program is  designed to engage healthcare professionals and empower patients to create a safer healthcare environment, according to a press release.

"Patient education is becoming another responsibility of healthcare facilities as they seek ways to eliminate infections and achieve exceptional patient outcomes," said Laura Ball, marketing manager, Kimberly-Clark Health Care said in the release. 

The program provides clinical and patient education around infection prevention. Tenets of the program include patient and clinical resources:

Patient resources include: 

• An education website, www.preventinfections.com

• Quick response (QR) code enabled posters, featuring patient safety videos sponsored by the CDC, Joint Commission, Kimberly-Clark and Safe Care Campaign

• Personal patient information kit including Kleenex sanitizer, tissue pocket pack and wet wipes for the face and hands. The kit also includes a patient guide to hand hygiene, and a door hanger to remind staff and visitors to wash and sanitize their hands

• Patient checklist for infection prevention, an informational brochure that can be provided to patients, visitors and family to help reduce the risk of infection while receiving care

• Educational materials including mirror clings, tent cards and dispenser labels to be used in patient rooms and hallways

Clinical resources include: 

• Accredited education programs, designed to provide an overview of transmission of microorganisms, techniques for hand hygiene, hand hygiene adherence rates and strategies to boost compliance

• Posters, providing step-by-step instructions to support a quality hand wash and proper use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers

• A three-part DVD series on training solutions for environmental service professional and infection control managers

• Website resources, www.cleanhandscare.com and www.haiwatch.com