Half of medical staff in Outaouais not washing hands

[OnlinePoker]

One out of every two employees at hospitals and clinics in the Outaouais is failing to wash their hands before and after caring for patients, according to data compiled by Radio-Canada.

Between last April and this January, the compliance rate for handwashing at institutions overseen by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) was just 50 per cent, among the lowest in Quebec.

Over the same period one year earlier, the overall compliance rate in the Outaouais was 65 per cent. Province-wide, compliance was at 61 per cent last year, while Quebec's health ministry is striving for a rate of 75 per cent.

The picture gets even worse when the scope is narrowed to doctors, only three in 10 of whom are washing their hands.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cisss-outaouais-hand-washing-problems-1.5089638

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This is the region across the river from Ottawa. Is it any wonder diseases like c-diff and staph get spread easily around hospitals when the staff don't even take the basic steps to keep it from spreading?

[Blues Heron]

1. There's the Canadian healthcare you don't want. Scary.

Wash your hands morans! it's no joke.

[jberryhill]

2. Do you believe this behavior is somehow unique to Canada?

I would be fascinated to know the link between single payer health insurance and medical staff not washing their hands.

Meanwhile, in the US.....

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/doctors-hand-hygiene-plummets-watched-study-finds/story?id=39737505

Poor adherence to hand hygiene has been a longstanding issue. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health providers clean their hands less than half of the time they should, and the World Health Organization reports averages as low as 40 percent.

[global1]

3. Not Unique To Canada....

Similar challenges exist right here in the United States. Handwashing needs to be drilled into all those that work in the hospital or any health care setting for that matter. Hospital acquired infections (HAI's) are still a hazard. Infection prevention/infection control is an important element in patient care. I'm not up on the latest stats of HAI's in the U.S. but this has been an issue here in the States for years and needs to be constantly drilled into all aspects of the health care facilities and personnel.

Hospital acquired infections (HAI's) and medical errors are the two biggest issues facing this industry.

[procon]

4. During a recent hospital stay in California

I noticed that hand sanitiser dispensers were everywhere and they were in constant use, evidently they have replaced handwashing. Sinks were not visible in public areas, but there was one in my room along with a personal bottle of hand sanitiser that was included in my 'welcome kit'. Staff didn't use my sink, but they always used the sanitiser dispenser on the wall near the door and others were in the halls on the walls between patient rooms, by elevators, public bathrooms, in the nursing station, etc. Staff was always using them, and you could see everyone waving their hands in the air to dry. The techs that came with their diagnostic carts had bottles of hand sanitiser that they used before and after the procedures even though they were wearing gloves.

[ck4829]

5. K&R