As part of our efforts to ensure hand hygiene stays front of mind, auditors continue to complete hand hygiene audits and promote feedback in wards and clinical areas across Monash Health.
But what does a Hand Hygiene Auditor do? What do they look for? How can you work with one to get the best results for your area? To get some answers to these questions, we spoke to Hand Hygiene Auditor, Loulou Ibrahim.
Loulou is a Clinical Nurse Specialist on CW34 and a Nursing Coordinator who has been with Monash Health for 20 years. Her background gives her a unique insight into why hand hygiene is such an important tool in keeping ourselves and our patients safe.
Why is hand hygiene so important?
“Hand hygiene is essential in protecting patients and healthcare workers from harmful pathogens.”
It’s a simple message, but this past year has shown us why it is important to continue good hand hygiene practice. Increased hand hygiene practice is a powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19, and continues to play a vital role in preventing healthcare associated infections.
How do you benefit from speaking to a hand hygiene auditor?
The hand hygiene auditor is there to help you and your team keep everyone safe. If an auditor notices particular moments are repeatedly missed in a certain setting, they use it as an education opportunity and support our teams in reaching compliance.
When an auditor observes a missed moment during an audit, it is a great opportunity for some on-the-spot education. Loulou often refers back to the five moments of hand hygiene and reminds people about when they should perform hand hygiene.
One of the most effective ways of improving your hand hygiene compliance is engaging with your hand hygiene auditor. Loulou spoke about how important it is to engage with auditors and assess audit results.
“Being receptive to reminders and discussions about hand hygiene is important. Teams can help by embracing these conversations.”
Why do we conduct hand hygiene audits?
“Hand hygiene auditing is a way of measuring performance and identifying potential risks. Conversations when completing audits are a great way to remind each other when we should complete hand hygiene, even during times when we may be busy or distracted,” says Loulou.
She also mentioned how important it is to think of hand hygiene auditing and feedback as a way of improving the care we deliver our patients.
“I would like to see more hand hygiene auditors from different disciplines get involved, and have auditors embrace patient advocacy and contribute to quality improvement plans.”
Don’t forget hand hygiene – before and after!
We know that hand hygiene plays an important part in keeping us and our patients safe. Performing hand hygiene before and after contact with our patients, before and after procedures, before and after touching equipment, is vital in protecting our patients from pathogens, including their own!
Need a refresher? You can find the Monash Health Hand Hygiene Procedure on PROMPT. You can also download the poster for your area here, a reminder to stop and perform hand hygiene at critical moments.
For more information about hand hygiene, you can visit the intranet.
Approved by Prof Rhonda Stuart