Patient Hand Hygiene Education and Implementation in Healthcare Settings
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Transmission of pathogenic organisms can occur through multiple routes, all of which can be interrupted when evidence-based best practice interventions are followed. Understanding the connection between infection prevention and control and patient, staff, and visitor safety is integral to preventing transmission. This course will provide current evidence-based best practices to prevent transmission of pathogenic organisms. It will include a review of the chain of infection, evidence-based guidance, best practices, and processes to guide robust hand hygiene programs, environmental cleaning processes and procedures, and cleaning of shared patient-care equipment.
EXPERT INSTRUCTOR: Shanina Knighton, PhD, RN, CIC, is a nurse-scientist, infection preventionist and an associate professor in the Schools of Nursing and adjunct in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Knighton was the inaugural executive director of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)’s Center for Research Practice and Innovation, where she championed their transformation to advance science and practice. Prior to joining APIC, Knighton received her PhD, did her NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship, and was an early career development CTSA KL2 Scholar at Case Western Reserve University. She completed a three-year National VA Quality Scholars Fellowship where she led quality improvement projects and taught medical and nurse residents. She is known for being able to take infection prevention science and turn it into practical and equitable tools for improvement in various settings.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand how hand hygiene in general contributes to improved patient safety.
Review the importance of patient hand hygiene in preventing HAIs.
Review the 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene.
Describe the hand hygiene process.
Review how patient hand hygiene can be incorporated in healthcare personnel’s duties.
CONTINUING EDUCATION: This course has been awarded 1.0 contact hours of continuing education by
Keystone Media Inc./Keystone Continuing Education, LLC, provider No. 175000 with the California Board of Registered Nurses.
COURSE PROGRESSION: Enrolled users must click on the “Mark Complete” button at the bottom of each lesson to be able to progress to the next lesson; all lessons must be marked complete before the CE test may be accessed.