A huge improvement has been found in the rate of CLABSI and SSI as well as some progress on hospital onset MRSA bacteremia and C. difficle infections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a study from 2011 to 2013. However, despite the progress made the numbers were still not up to the standards they should have been in 2013.
Hand hygiene compliance is historically low at 39%, as found by the World Health Organization. This one area that has been severely lacking in improvement. Why? Nurses aren’t being given the correct tools to do their job.
The constant washing and sanitizing of hands leads to discomfort in the form of dry skin and irritation, this could easily discourage workers from following proper hand hygiene practices. With the implementation of Restore Nitrile Glove, we could see the improvement we need to. The Nitrile glove, offered by Medline, is coated with colloidal oatmeal. This relieves the irritation nurses are feeling. A study was done with a sample of 100 nurses over a 10-day period. At the end of the period 84% of nurses were content with the feel of their hands. This is a shocking upswing from the 4% who were content with their hands without the use of the Nitrile glove.
With proper resources available and compliance to hand washing procedures, we can expect to see the improvement we need in rate of infection.
