Mrs. Kylie Fomiatti1
1CAHS, Perth, Australia
Biography:
Kylie is an IPC Clinical Nurse Specialist and has been working in IPC for more than 10 years across the public and private sector, managing Hand Hygiene (HH) Programs. She is an active HH Educator (HAE) and has completed multiple successful hospital wide HH improvement projects.
Abstract:
It is well established that Hand Hygiene (HH) is the single most important factor in protecting patients from healthcare acquired infections. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to promote HH excellence and thereby protecting the most vulnerable patients in Paediatric Critical Care (PCC).
Evidence based; multimodal methods were implemented to meet the requirements of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI). The three key interventions selected for the QI, included: peer-to-peer auditing and feedback, using data to leverage change and targeted education. These strategies were developed into an action plan template and associated strategy bank. These strategies were deemed high impact and were led by the newly created role of Infection Prevention and Control, Clinical Nurse Specialist – HH Coordinator. This new role provided dedicated time and expertise to empower healthcare workers to have local ownership of the HH program and to promote a culture of patient safety through HH best practice.
Overall, the project was a success with the PCC HH compliance rate increasing by 10% from the previous audit period. The subsequent audit period demonstrated a sustained improvement from baseline. All of the project objectives were met or showed significant improvement.
Based on the success of this QI project, it will be expanded to use the action plan template and strategy bank at a site level. With the goal to test these tools at a state Hospital Service Provider and national level to assist with bridging the gap of practical resources to support the successful implementation of the NHHI.