Hospital Sanitization
May 12, 2001
With hospital borne infections increasing at an alarming rate, researchers are calling for an increased emphasis on sanitation. What is their simple recommendation? Doctors, nurses, technicians, assistant, patients and families should wash their hands often. Researchers have discovered that doctors and nurses often fail to wash their hands between patient visits. In this age of managed care and time and money constraints, doctors and nurses are often so harried that they neglect to wash-up.
"Hand washing, or at least being able to clean the hands, is far and away the single most important thing" in preventing infections, said Doctor J. Glenn Morris, chairman of department of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Often washing basins are inconveniently located at the ends of hallways, discouraging washing. Doctor Morris says that studies show the busier the nurse, the less time spent properly washing. Such poor sanitation practices are responsible for over 2 million infections each year, killing thousands and costing over $3.5 billion to treat.
Some hospitals are beginning to get the picture. More washing basins are being placed inside hospital rooms or adjacent to them. Additionally, hospitals are emphasizing the need for better sanitation practices among their staff and supplying alcohol based wipes to encourage sanitation. The wipes and other new products do not require water as traditional soaps do. Some hospitals are even asking their doctors and nurses to sign a pledge, promising to use proper sanitation techniques.
While nurses tend to comply with the newly issued sanitation requirements, doctors have been less enthusiastic. "Doctors are frequently some of our biggest problems in terms of infection control in hospitals, simply because they don't comply with standard procedures. They feel like they are above the rules," said Doctor Morris.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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