[Preemies R Me]

We are starting some new initiatves and one that I head up is infection control. One aspect, of course, is handwashing. Our staff is pretty darn good but we are aware that some of our parents may not be. What are some policies in ya'll's hospitals regarding parent handwashing and what creative ways do you instill the absolute NEED to perform a good handwash prior to entering. We are also looking at asking our parents to use the alcohol foam or Avaguard prior to touching their babies in conjunction (or in some cases in leiu of ) with their scrub in. Ideas or policies welcome.
Diana Newcomb RN

[wee one rn]

Our parents have to scrub before entering the unit, they don't get buzzed in until they have done so. For new mom's in wheelchairs that can't reach the sinks/still have ivs, they can purell. Once in, we have purell next to each bed and reinforce the importance washing or purelling between touching something besides the baby then touching the baby.

There have been several threads in past with policies/suggestions on this, a search would probably find great addt'l info for you. Hope this helps!

[justme1972]

Hey, I'm not a nurse, but when my twins were born, they were in the NICU for a little while, and I thought I would share the procedure the hospital followed.

The hospital we were at...had a very large sink at the entrance. You were absolutely not permitted to even WALK to where the babies were without doing a 3 minute hand-wash. They had an hour glass attached to the wall above the sink, and there was a foot-petal to engage the water...the hour glass made sure you washed for 3 minutes, and there was an automatic dispenser for paper towels.

The wall behind the sink ended up being a great place to post policies of the NICU, parenting information, NICU support groups, etc...they obviously had a captive audience!

If you walked out of the NICU...even for a second, you had to repeat the process when you returned, and you were not allowed to hold babies unless they draped you in a NICU blanket, and also could not hold a baby while wearing a jacket (b/c they are more germy that regularly laundered clothes). The nurses also paid very close attention if you handled things like keys, tote bags, during the visit..you had to wash again.

[Gompers]

Originally Posted by wee one rn

Our parents have to scrub before entering the unit, they don't get buzzed in until they have done so. For new mom's in wheelchairs that can't reach the sinks/still have ivs, they can purell. Once in, we have purell next to each bed and reinforce the importance washing or purelling between touching something besides the baby then touching the baby.

Why, I do believe you've invented a new word! I LOVE IT!!!

[RainDreamer]

All our parents and/or visitors have to do a 3 minute scrub. The water comes on, the red lights comes on ..... once the red lights changes to a green light, they're good to go.

[Gompers]

Originally Posted by RainDreamer

All our parents and/or visitors have to do a 3 minute scrub. The water comes on, the red lights comes on ..... once the red lights changes to a green light, they're good to go.

That's awesome!!! I wish we had a timer like that. I'm so tired of seeing parents do 20-second scrubs because they think no one is looking. And hello, it's THEIR baby, you'd think they'd be extra careful! (Other parents, on the other hand, scrub for like five minutes and will re-scrub several times a day if they've gone to the bathroom, cafeteria, etc.)

[RNin2007]

I was so irritated during my first day in NICU as a student. My classmate who was with me didn't seem to take the handwashing seriously...he only rinsed with water because he couldn't "find" the soap pump. I showed him where it was at and he said good to know for next time. This really made me mad b/c I am a mom of two former preemies...


He's out of the program now.

I LOVE the red light green light idea! All the NICUs should have something so great.

~J