Case study
Associação do Sanatório Sírio- HCor, Brazil
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Submitted by:
Adriana Maria da Silva Felix
Associação do Sanatório Sírio- HCor,
Brazil
What type of health-care facility or organization are you?
The HCor has cardiology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, neurology, vascular surgery, urology, gastroenterology, thoracic surgery and other specialties. It has 250 beds (30 in adult ICU, 10 in pediatric ICU, 162 in inpatient units, 13 in coronary care unit, 8 in emergency room and 27 in day-hospital), 10 operating rooms and 3 rooms for hemodynamic procedures. The hospital performs 4573 surgeries, 3597 hemodynamic procedures and 317 surgical correction of congenital heart disease per year. The philanthropy and volunteer service does public welfare for children with cardiac disease, performing 317 surgeries and 1200 outpatient visits per year.
What was the situation at your facility with respect to hand hygiene and HAI before you initiated the hand hygiene initiatives?
In March 2010, we identified a hand hygiene compliance rate of 38% and that led us to develop a strategy to improve this situation.
What were the goals of your initiative?
In May 2010, we conducted the campaign for hand hygiene "Hands washed, clean conscience", which aimed to strengthen and encourage the implementation of hand hygiene among health professionals, patients, caregivers and visitors.
What actions have you planned or already put in place to improve hand hygiene at your facility?
The planning for this campaign began in February 2010 and included participation from the Marketing and Procurement sectors of the institution. The campaign was launched on 10th May, 2010 and it ended on 28th May, 2010. A schedule was prepared to meet professionals from all sectors and periods. The Service Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, used the following strategies: signs on the bulletin boards of the institution, banners and alcohol gel dispensers in areas of high circulation of people, educational visits to work areas, distribution of educational material (leaflets, pins, alcohol-gel samples) and group discussions, addressing rates of adherence to hand hygiene, definitions of terms, "5 Moments for handwashing ", techniques and enhancing the use of alcohol-gel. After the discussion each sector was to choose a group member to disclose the monthly rates to the unit staff.
Did you encounter any particular problems while planning and implementing your strategy?
No.
What were the outcomes of your initiatives?
106 training sessions were conducted and 1406 professionals out of total 1959 participated in the campaign. 90% of staff who participated in the campaign reported that they were not aware of the rates of adherence to hand hygiene. The five dispensers of alcohol-gel, in areas of high circulation of people, were activated twenty thousand times. According to the report of the Warehouse industry, the consumption of alcohol gel increased at the institution and there was a gradual increase in compliance with hand hygiene.
What were your key learning points?
The strategies we used contributed to increased adherence to hand hygiene. However, aspects to be reviewed include improving the participation of leaders and enhancing the compliance of health professionals working during the night shift. We received good feedback. The health professionals provided a song they wrote about the importance of hand hygiene to prevent infection, as feedback.
What are your future directions?
Each sector chooses a member to disclose the monthly rates to the unit staff. Next year, we intend to make an event for exhibiting the initiatives in each area.
Additional comments
Context and goal:
