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Don't Forget to Wash Your Hands

  • Hanging posters of cute kids as hand-washing reminders
  • Installing sanitizer dispensers in and outside of patient rooms
  • Making eye contact and talking with patients while washing hands

What can your team do motivate peers to hold each other accountable? 

 

Good hand hygiene is a recipe for good health, but it must start with a regular hand-washing routine. The inpatient pediatrics team at the South Bay Medical Center scored low in peer observation studies of hand washing, so they set about to make it a regular habit. They hung posters with images of cute kids as reminders, mounted sanitizer dispensers in and outside of patient rooms, and made eye contact with patients to reinforce the habit and build confidence. In nine months, their initiative increased hand-washing success from 61 to 98 percent.

Archived content
Live, non-archived content
TTP Blurb
The pediatrics team increased hand-washing rates after it put up posters of cute kids as hand-washing reminders and made other common-sense improvements.
Why This Matters
Hand-washing is a simple way to combat inpatient infection.
Test of Change
Posting reminders to regularly wash hands
Short Teaser

See how you can reduce the chance for infection.

Medium Teaser

Hand washing is so easy and a simple way to combat infection. See how your team can create a hand-washing habit.

Long Teaser

Hand washing is so easy and a simple way to combat infection. See how your team can create a hand-washing habit.

Nav Section
Preview Image
Person washing hands.
Landing Page Title
Always Wash Your Hands
Topics
Patient Safety
Quality
Service
Total Health
Region
Southern California
Role
Frontline Managers
Frontline Physicians
Frontline Workers
UBT Co-Leads
Keywords
hand washing
Date of publication
This has been edited
0
Department
Inpatient
Pediatrics
Content Type
Team-Tested Practice
Content Goal
Inform
High Res Photo Set
Person washing hands.

A hand-washing routine is an important part of patient care.

Big Number
98%
Explanation

success rate in improving staff hand-washing routine