By Katherine Adams
Infections contribute to approximately a quarter of the 2.8 million neonatal deaths that occur worldwide each year. Reduction in hospital-acquired infections efforts emphasize the implementation of specific preventative measures, including hand hygiene.
Hand hygiene is an inexpensive, simple way for health care providers and visitors to help prevent spread of germs.
That’s why Vanessa Abacan believes it’s critical to be proactive in improving hand hygiene in UTMB’s neo-natal intensive care unit.
“There is always a risk of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) in a NICU, and the most common form of transmission is through hands and equipment,” said Abacan, Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Health System. “We decided to raise everyone’s awareness about better handwashing practices through the Germ Stomp event. It’s about promoting and reminding people about hand hygiene and understanding more about why it is important.”
The lighthearted theme of the Germ Stomp, held on Jan. 10 in the NICU at John Sealy Hospital, was to demonstrate the importance of “stomping away” all those germs.
“The idea came from when I was a bedside nurse, and we got hand sanitizer reels as swag from the hospital. All of us appreciated the convenience of having it attached to us making it easy to gel right before each point of contact. I wanted to design a cute personal sanitizer pouch for our NICU team, and one of our neonatologists, Dr. Maria Franco, suggested to put baby feet on them to ‘stomp out the germs,’ which was absolutely adorable. I worked with our branding team to get them in production right away,” she said. “Everyone who attended the event received one, and we reminded everyone how important it is to keep those on their person.”
The event included a “Glow with the Flow” activity intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of hand washing.
“There are big, stainless-steel sinks to handwash by the NICU, and we had the Glow with the Flow right there,” Abacan said. “People washed their hands as well as they could and then put their hands in a black box.
“They could see the residual germs, and it helped them visualize how well they really washed their hands,” she said. “Sometimes people wash and they think they’re done, but this was a good training tool for our nurses to show best handwashing techniques.”
There also was a photo booth with a frame, balloons, and other fun props such as “Germ Stomper” or “I am a handwashing machine!” and other fun quotes related to handwashing.
“People had fun taking photos in the photo booth, then moved on to play Jeopardy, where the questions were about the infection prevention policy,” she continued. “We also made a banner, which now hangs in the front of the NICU, that says ‘Clean Hands Save Lives.’ Everyone signed the banner and took a Polaroid photo and affixed it on the banner to show that we are all working together to keep our infection rate as low as possible in our NICU.”
An added bonus to the event was the support and attendance of numerous executive leaders, including Chief Nursing Executive Jerry Mansfield, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gulshan Sharma, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer Kandice Bledsaw, Director of Quality and Patient Safety Mara Hehli and Associate Chief Nursing Officer Deb Mordecai.
“All the nurses really appreciated receiving executive support and participation,” she said. “This is a priority for everyone in the entire hospital.”
In keeping with UTMB’s Best Care initiative, which aims to give the highest quality of care to achieve the best possible outcomes for each patient, any person entering the NICU must wash their hands in order to reduce the risk of spreading infection.
Handwashing must occur not just upon entering NICU or a room but at every point of contact.
“Clean hands do save lives,” Abacan said. “The babies in the NICU are among the most vulnerable patients in the hospital, and we do everything possible to eradicate the chance of MRSA or MSSA infections.
“It all comes down to the basics,” she added. Everyone must wash their hands. And this applies not just to everyone who comes in contact with NICU babies but to everyone in all units of the hospital.”
Need some hand washing hygiene inspiration? Check out Best Care Karaoke on the internal Best Care page. Go to utmb.edu/best-care, then use your UTMB credentials to gain access to the staff-only site.
 |  |
|  |