Waiting For Wings Hospital Policy For Hand And Fingernail...

Waiting for Wings Hospital Policy for Hand and Fingernail Hygiene Guidelines Purpose: This Waiting for Wings Hospital (WFWH) policy provides evidence-based principles and practices necessary for persons to accomplish proper hand and fingernail hygiene. This policy follows guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in an attempt to reduce healthcare-associated infection (HAI) that are spreads to patients, staff, and others. Scope: This policy applies to and must be adhered by all employees of WFWH including allied health professionals, students, credentialed specialists, and contractors. Patients, family members, and visitors will be encouraged to follow these guidelines. Educational material will be provided in an attempt to improve understanding of the importance of good hand and nail hygiene for the prevention of healthcare-associated infection. Background: Generations of people have considered handwashing a measure of personal hygiene. In 1847, Dr. Semmelweis insisted that healthcare providers wash their hands with disinfecting agents between patients. This early hand hygiene practice resulted in a decrease in mortality rates among hospital patients (CDC, 2002). The CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee published the Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings in 2002 that is based on hand hygiene foundations developed in generation past. In 2014, this guideline is still available online and used as a reference