As a mom and kindergarten teacher, I say “wash your hands” more times than I can imagine. Before my newborn son died in the hospital, it never occurred to me that I would need to speak to the doctor about it. However, if all healthcare workers consistently used proper hand hygiene in my son’s care, sepsis probably wouldn’t have been a part of my child’s hospitalization. Sepsis is one of countless infections that can be passed from one patient to another through bacteria on the hands of health care workers. The most important thing healthcare workers can do to protect their patients is to clean their hands.
I went back to preschool with my son. Instead, I have developed a new passion for continuous hand hygiene practices. As a patient advocate, I also remain in the facility, reminding staff of a heightened commitment to proper hand hygiene.
As I go from the kindergarten classroom to the neonatal inpatient setting, I expect doctors and nurses to do what needs to be done based on their experience and knowledge. The complexity of healthcare is overwhelming and impressive. Who should I remind highly educated, respected professionals to just clean their hands? Through my advocacy, I have learned that research shows that healthcare providers may not wash their hands as often or as required unless they know they are being monitored. However, the discovery of the effect of hand hygiene on reducing infection dates back to the 1800s.
Every day, in a kindergarten setting, teachers wash their hands multiple times a day…and teach children when and how to wash their hands. Even these young kids can wash their hands properly! Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was part of a layered strategy to prevent the spread of germs in nurseries.
The medical staff are very busy. Any help we can offer these stressed caregivers goes to patients and clinicians.
To help your provider help you, remember the following steps to advocate for proper hand hygiene:
- In healthcare settings, ask clinicians to clean their hands (even if they are wearing gloves) before touching you.
- Always wash your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when you enter a loved one’s room, before touching a patient, and before leaving the room.
- It is okay to ask for clean hands. It can save your life or your loved one’s life. Your simple mention may remind your doctors and nurses to clean their hands.
- Teach proper hand hygiene at the youngest so this simple but vital life-saving tool becomes second nature.
Following the death of her son James, Mary Ellen volunteered to work with many local, state and national organizations to improve safe care for all for preventable medical errors. This includes her role as a governor-appointed consumer representative to the Pennsylvania Department of Patient Safety through 2020 and ongoing participation in the Patient Safety Action Network. She also authored the book Split Babies: A Child’s Medical and Legal Journey.
Mary Ellen is a coach and program health consultant for the Pennsylvania Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership. She is a wife, mother of five children and a grandmother “Mimi”.
