CE test for Patient Hand Hygiene

Research shows that an adult patient spends the majority of their time in their bed and in their room during a hospital stay.

Hand hygiene is the single most important way to prevent the spread of infections.

Patients do not usually have germs on their hands that can lead to infections.

Healthcare facilities and their staff can help patients to clean their hands by providing multimodal instruction and hand hygiene resources on infection prevention and control.

It is not important to assess patients for their hand hygiene-related independence or needs.

Patients who are physically unable to clean their own hands need to be assisted by their caregivers.

Healthcare staff should empower patients to clean their hands by educating and demonstrating to patients the correct technique for handwashing; the correct technique for use of handrubs; and when to clean hands (e.g. before eating, after restroom use, after touching untreated surfaces).

It’s not necessary for healthcare staff to assess patients each day or after each shift to determine what level of assistance and resources are needed for patients to clean their hands.

Patients should be assessed if they can open flip caps of hand sanitizers, as they may be difficult for the patient to open.

Remind patients to wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and tell them it is the best way to prevent spread of the disease. If soap and water are not available, advise them to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.