There are times when it seems like everyone around you is sniffling, whether it’s in the fall when school starts or right before the winter holidays. Washing your hands is always essential and may be reinforced with signs, especially in healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, this rule that seems like common sense is often ignored, and therefore infections run rampant. The Joint Commission, a national healthcare organization, launched the Center for Transforming Healthcare and has decided to go full-speed in tackling this issue.
In 2009, the Center’s first objective was to examine why hand-washing rules in hospitals and healthcare systems have failed. Health-care associated infections kill nearly 100,000 Americans each year and cost U.S. hospitals $4 billion to $29 billion annually to combat, and therefore this issue is a huge urgency. The Joint Commission’s study showed that eight hospitals tested found that their caregivers washed their hands less than 50% of the time.
Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, noted during one of his visits at a hospital that though there were ‘Wash Your Hand Signs’ posted all around, all of them had one flaw. All of the signs underlined the importance of hand-washing or using alcohol rub/alcohol gel to protect healthcare workers from getting sick. However, most of these healthcare professionals can recall the numerous times when they did not wash hands and did not fall ill.
Grant, along with his research partner David Hoffman, concluded through an experiment that healthcare workers responded more promptly to signs that emphasized patient health. The professionals pitted two signs against each other. One sign read, “Hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases” while the other stated, “Hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases.” Patient-consequences signs increased hand washing compliance rates from 80.7% to 89.2%. The change was attributed to the fact that the message is altruistic and healthcare workers chose their profession in order to help people.
Upon viewing the success of consequential hand-washing signs during the experiment, it is clear that these products have the ability to work effectively in real-life situations. These specific Wash Your Hands Signs’ are excellent ways to remind medical professionals to maintain hand hygiene during their normal course of the day.
Wash Your Hand Signs can also be posted in other settings such as school cafeterias, restaurants etc. to stop infections from spreading while preparing or serving food. Signs posted in these places can remind employees to maintain required hygiene standards that will have a direct bearing on students and customers’ health.
Our Wash Your Hand Signs are designed for the effect hand hygiene rules or lack thereof has on the end consumer- patients, visitors, students, customers etc. Made from durable materials and appealing designs, our signs blend in with the environment they are installed in and yet tend to stand out to be clearly visible to the intended audience. Ink by 3M and aluminum composition guarantees the signs last for up to ten years and withstands abrasion and abuse.
The last thing any healthcare worker would want is making a patient more ill. Keeping hands clean is a really easy step and it does not always get done. Wash Your Hand Signs are excellent support tools in order to stop germs and maintain good health.
|
