January 16, 2017
Unbeknownst to each other, colleagues at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton - Jane Johnston, general surgery manager, left, and Amber-Leah Edmiston, the unit's infection control professional - nominated each other as Hand Hygiene Heroes for their work promoting hand cleanliness.
Story by: Jennifer Green
EDMONTON - Two staff members working at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton unknowingly nominated each other as Hand Hygiene Heroes because of their efforts to improve hand cleanliness.
Jane Johnston, general surgery manager, was nominated by Amber-Leah Edmiston, the unit’s infection control professional (ICP), for taking accountability and ownership of hand hygiene.
“Jane is a great example of the mantra that infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” says Edmiston, noting that Johnston involved unit staff and physicians by organizing educational events that focused on hand hygiene and providing on-the-spot feedback.
It turned out Johnston was just as impressed with the effort Edmiston was putting into hand hygiene, nominating her for her support. As an ICP, Edmiston acts as a resource for questions about hand hygiene and other IPC-related topics, in addition to providing education and training.
“Amber-Leah is a wonderful support to me and to our team,” Johnston says. “Her continuous presence, support and help with educating staff have been so important and contributed to an increase in compliance.”
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) launched the Hand Hygiene Hero campaign last May in celebration of Stop! Clean your Hands Day! and invites frontline staff to nominate co-workers who are championing the cause.
Over the past six months, their efforts have led to increases in hand hygiene compliance that remained above 80 per cent.
Overall, this represents a 58 per cent improvement in hand-hygiene compliance since AHS began doing provincewide hand hygiene reviews in 2011.
Hand hygiene is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and infections. It is why AHS aims for 100 per cent clean hands for every patient, every time.
