November 19 , 2004

Clean hands help patients

The results are in for the third quarter MGH Hand Hygiene Clean Sweepstakes, and eight patient care units have been rewarded for having the highest hand hygiene compliance before and after patient contact. Congratulations go to Bigelow 9, Phillips 21, Bigelow 10, White 12, Ellison 17, Phillips 22, Blake 12 and Blake 6.

The Clean Sweepstakes is sponsored by the STOP — Stop Transmission of Pathogens — task force. It is a friendly competition among patient care units to encourage all MGHers to use Cal Stat — a waterless hand disinfectant — before and after patient contact to help reduce the rates of hospital-acquired infections and improve patient care.

For the contest, patient care units have been divided into clusters of four to six units with each unit competing against each other every quarter. MGH Infection Control Unit staff members regularly visit the units to observe compliance with required hand hygiene practices. Observation data is compiled on a quarterly basis, and compliance rates are calculated and reported back to each unit. Each quarter, one unit from each cluster wins a Clean Sweepstakes prize, usually a pizza party or other celebration for the unit staff.

Two units have swept all three contests within their respective clusters over the past nine months — Bigelow 9 and Ellison 17. Blake 12 and White 12 have won two out of three contests within their cluster. The remaining four units are first-time winners.

For the fourth quarter, the contest will focus on "most improved" for the units that have made the most significant progress for the entire year. In addition, any unit that achieves both a compliance rate of at least 50 percent before and 70 percent after contact with a patient or a patient's environment will receive a special reward and will become members of the new 50/70 Club.

For more information about the Clean Sweepstakes, call Rosemary O'Malley at
(617) 726-9663.