patient safety Archives - Your Health Matters

Don’t visit patients in the hospital when you’re sick

Sybil Millar — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 19:17:18 +0000

When you have a friend or family member in the hospital, you probably want to visit them as much as possible. But if you’re sick, your visits may end up doing more harm than good.

“Patients in the hospital are vulnerable and are at higher risk of developing more severe illness from the flu, or even a simple cold. If you have a contagious illness, it’s important you don’t visit people in the hospital until you’ve fully recovered,” says Dr. Jerome Leis, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Sunnybrook.

Here are three reasons you shouldn’t visit patients in the hospital when you’re sick:

1. You can pass your illness on to others

There are posters around the hospital and a recording on the main phone line, asking visitors not to come to Sunnybrook if they’re sick.

Before you visit someone in the hospital, be honest with yourself about your own health: it’s easy to dismiss a minor cough or runny nose as an allergy, aspiration or unrelated non-infectious issue.

However, these can be signs of a contagious infection, which can spread quickly to other patients and staff. The resulting outbreak can have a huge impact not just on other patients, but also on the hospital’s ability to function efficiently.

2. It creates a domino effect

When patients get an infectious illness while in the hospital, it creates a domino effect.

Their hospital stay becomes longer and they need more care, leading to delays in care for other patients. For example, surgeries can be delayed or even cancelled, and patients can wait longer in the Emergency Department for a bed.

“This is one of the reasons we often see a spike in our occupancy rates in the winter months. Patients are getting illnesses like the flu, even when that isn’t the reason they were originally admitted to our hospital, causing them to stay longer,” says Dr. Leis.

3. Patients need more time and help to recover

When a patient catches the flu while in the hospital, it can cause additional complications and delays in their recovery.

“Sometimes, it can mean the difference between a patient being able to go home or needing rehabilitation and additional support, because the flu they caught in hospital caused them to become even weaker,” says Dr. Leis.

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Just Clean Your Hands

Education Team — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:47:00 +0000

A key element of our education mandate and principles is alignment with our clinical and organizational priorities. Sunnybrook education is pleased to support the hand hygiene campaign and goal of 100% compliance. Hand Hygiene is the single most important way to prevent healthcare acquired infections and the spread of microorganisms. Mom was right when she always told you to just “Clean Your Hands!”

In January, we discussed the 1^st of the 4 moments of hand hygiene. In this post, we continue the discussion on the moments with a review of the 2nd moment.

Moment 2 is to make sure your hands are clean before you perform a clean or aseptic procedure. You cleaned your hands on entering the patient’s bedspace (moment 1) to prevent carrying microorganisms from the hospital environment into the patient’s bedspace and to prevent transmitting your own microorganisms to the patient. However, if you have touched the patient or items in the patient’s environment your hands are now contaminated with the patient’s microorganisms.

Figure 1: Moment 2

Just clean your Hands

Myth

The use of gloves is a substitute for hand hygiene. [Not True!!]

Fact

Unclean hands contaminate clean or sterile gloves easily during the

process of putting them on. Hand hygiene should be conducted

immediately before putting on gloves to minimize the chance of

spreading microorganisms.

Things to remember immediately before a clean or aseptic procedure:

Have you touched anything (including the chart, monitors, door knob, pen, your own clothing, face or stethoscope) after entering the room or bedspace?
Have you touched anything prior to entering the patient environment? (curtain, door, door knob, chair)
Did you or anyone entering the environment touch something before the clean or aspetic procedure and not clean your/their hands?

If you answered “Yes” to these questions the patient is at risk of exposure to infection. Speak up for patient safety. Patient safety starts with good communication.

Remember: Just Clean Your Hands.

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Patient Safety Simulation Team Training, Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre

Education Team — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:30:00 +0000

There’s no doubt that modern medicine is a team activity.

And much like in sports, when the team doesn’t function together, the outcomes are less assured. We have all experienced this, and possibly been frustrated by it. But is it really surprising? How many of us trained in teams during our school years? How often have we trained in teams since graduating? Back to the sports analogy, how can we expect to win, win, win, without ever going to a practice?

Well, there is a better way. As kids, we all remember having fire drills at school. Why not practice emergency events at work? At Sunnybrook we can do this. We have a Simulation Centre here, and in fact, we had the first centre in Canada, which opened in 1994. We have human patient mannequins that have heart sounds, breath sounds, pulses and display vital signs on a monitor. We can practice almost any scenario, limited only by people’s creativity: from a drunk trauma patient, to a difficult delivery where the father faints in the middle!

Teams can come to the Simulation Centre, or we can come to your unit.

So is it fun? Depends on whom you ask. Initially most people are a bit scared. Am I going to perform OK? Will I embarrass myself? Am I going to look like an idiot in front of my peers?

We have a strict policy of confidentiality at the Sim Centre. Everything that happens there stays there! After the initial nervousness is past, almost everyone finds it a fascinating and extremely valuable experience. We can practice things in absolute safety without worrying about a patient being harmed. We can have a “redo” and try the same scenario over again. Most people say they want more, even those who were the most hesitant at the start!

While people can practice individually or in small groups, team training with real interprofessional colleagues is the most realistic and beneficial to all. The biggest challenge is getting everyone’s schedule in sync.

If this type of training interests you, speak to your educators, team leaders, managers or us! Because education matters, especially when patient safety is involved.

Dr. Jordan Tarshis, Director,

Susan DeSousa, Agnes Ryzynski, Co-ordinators,

Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre

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Hand Hygiene…Did you know???

Education Team — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Hand Hygiene is the single most important way to prevent healthcare acquired infections and the spread of microorganisms. Mom was right when she always told you to just “Clean Your Hands!”

The Ontario Ministry of Health developed the Just Clean Your Hands (JCYH) program for Ontario healthcare facilities that defines when you should clean your hands. They narrowed it down to the most critical 4 moments of hand hygiene to prevent transmission. If you are about to enter a moment of hand hygiene, stop and clean your hands!

Know and Perform the 4 Moments of Hand Hygiene:

1. Before contact with a patient /patient environment

2. Before conducting a clean procedure (even if gloves will be worn)

3. After potential exposure to bodily fluids (even if gloves were worn)

4. After contact with the patient /patient environment

Figure 1. Just Clean Your Hands – 4 Moments of Hand Hygiene

When on the Unit, Take Note and Locate Alcohol-based Hand Rub Stations.

Having Alcohol-based Hand Rub readily available is just as important as remembering and performing the 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene. Alcohol-based Hand Rub is the preferred method for Hand Hygiene over traditional soap and water at point-of-care.

The next time you’re on a Unit, take a look around and see if you can spot where all the alcohol-based hand rub bottles are located. If there isn’t one near the entrance or at the bedside speak up and bring it to the attention of a staff member or the manager.

Public Health Ontario has loads of great resources available online just visit: http://www.oahpp.ca/services/jcyh/index.html and click the links for your needs.

We Want Your Input!

Healthcare provider compliance with hand hygiene has traditionally been challenging because of the changing environment and conditions in which healthcare providers work.

Within healthcare provider groups, the physician group has made great strides, but there is room for more improvement, especially among residents and fellows.

If YOU have an idea on how to raise awareness for Hand Hygiene in your area WE want to hear about it! We want to make it safer for patients one hand at a time.

Contact Ben de Mendonca in the Quality and Patient Safety Department by e-mail at ben.demendonca@sunnybrook.ca if you have specific ideas or want to learn more.

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