No handwashing equals fines?

tntrn, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

I don't know how they could prove that there was no handwashing, unless they start installing video cams in every part of a facility....which I wouldn't put past them. Where has basic common sense gone?

nurse2033, MSN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

Wow, I think one impact would be to destroy morale. Do they have an army of agency nurses standing by to replace the ones they send home? That seems an extreme idea that I'm sure won't work. How are they monitoring this? Talk about a negative management style, yikes.

LegzRN · Feb 3, 2011

hmm interesting... I used to work in South Western PA. What hospital system is doing this?

Turd Ferguson · Feb 3, 2011

Seems a bit extreme- there's no doubt that handwashing is very important, but jeez... seems like the money spent on this initiative could be put towards something else

PetiteOpRN · Feb 3, 2011

Not all handwashing is equal. For instance, a surgeon must do a 3-minute wet scrub at least once a day (when operating), but can do a dry scrub afterwards. In neurosurgery wet and dry is required before every surgery. Obviously, it would be silly to expect a 5-10minute ordeal before and after any patient contact, but we all know there are those out there who do the 0.5 second "rinse" and call it good enough.

I just think it is silly to expect everyone to comply to an ill-defined "standard" which may or may not be relevant to their practice.

evolvingrn, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

I might purposefully not wash my hands on my weekend....since were not allowed to take our weekend off.

belgarion · Feb 3, 2011

How will they know? Cameras aimed at the sinks in every patient's room? That would open up the privacy worm can. How about patient's or family members reporting staff not doing proper hand washing? Oops, don't even want to go there.

Wait, I've got it. They hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol. Maybe even contract the jobs out. Their sole purpose will be hide behind file cabinets, linen carts, in closets, and under patients beds to catch the miscreants. Shucks, that way they can take all those pesky funds that could be used to hire more nurses and put them to good use.:icon_roll

tntrn, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

How will they know? Cameras aimed at the sinks in every patient's room? That would open up the privacy worm can. How about patient's or family members reporting staff not doing proper hand washing? Oops, don't even want to go there.
Wait, I've got it. They hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol. Maybe even contract the jobs out. Their sole purpose will be hide behind file cabinets, linen carts, in closets, and under patients beds to catch the miscreants. Shucks, that way they can take all those pesky funds that could be used to hire more nurses and put them to good use.:icon_roll

(Not) funny you should mention ancillary staff to be the hand washing patrol. About a month ago, we had VOLUNTEERS (the elderly people who do so much good in our facility) handing out cards to nurses that said, "You have been observed not doing proper hand washing."

Now as funny as it was considering the volunteers are NEVER in the patient rooms on our floor, it outraged some of the nurses who received these cards. And rightly so. There were so many questions I had: how did they know since they weren't inside patient rooms. And if someone steps inside a room, sees the pt. is sleeping, honestly, what is the need to run the water to wash the hands and wake up the patient.

Much like PC run amok.

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

They hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol.

We have this. It gets documented in our annual performance evaluation. Nobody knows who the "spies" are, just that we have them.

I just make a habit of rubbing my hands together briskly, or wiping them on the butt of my scrub pants as I pass through every door during my work shift, to make it look like I'm drying off freshly washed hands.

Editorial Team / Admin · Feb 3, 2011

per nrskarenrn, co-administrator:

upmc threatens to fine employees

upmc threatens to fine employees
as infections rise, workers could be fined for not washing hands
wednesday, february 02, 2011
by pohla smith, pittsburgh post-gazette
an unexpected rise in infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria at upmc presbyterian has prompted officials to threaten disciplinary action against doctors and staff at the hospital who don't wash their hands or follow other infection control guidelines...
at presby, administrators said they will levy $1,000 fines against doctors -- $250 for residents and fellows -- and send other workers home for a day without paywho ignore "education" by around-the-clock staff monitoring areas where the infected patients are confined.
this is a pilot program that's part of a broader initiative to bring individual accountability into the sprawling health system...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11033/1122252-114.stm

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 3, 2011

From the article:

The last time UPMC had an outbreak of this particular bacteria was in 2006, when seven cases were documented. At that time, administrators tightened procedures and improved education about proper hygiene procedures, but imposed no fines. "We completely stopped transmission of that organism," Dr. Muto said.

Okay, so why not do that again, since it worked so well the first time, I wonder?