INTOUCH OCTOBER 2014
Sophia Wong sings “These hands were made for washing” at the 14 CC nursing station. Watch her performance online at http://bit.ly/SophiaWong. (Photo by Katie Cooper, Medical Media Centre)
These hands were made for washing By James Wysotski
With mike in hand, registered nurse Sophia Wong flips on the PA system. She’s live. Although small in stature, her voice booms. It helps that speakers amplify her across St. Michael’s largest unit, 14 Cardinal Carter. “This is a reminder that clean hands are healing hands,” Wong said. While her daily overhead announcements bring the floor to a halt, it’s her adaptation of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots are Made for Walkin’ that’s the showstopper. “These hands are made for washing,” Wong sang in an impromptu video circulating on the unit, “and that’s what we will do, because one of these days Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper
these hands gonna do vital signs on you.” For a unit looking to increase its hand hygiene compliance rates, the message couldn’t be more on point. “Whatever you’re doing, you have to stop and listen because it’s just so engaging,” said Shirley Bell, the interim clinical leader manager of General Internal Medicine on 14 CC, as she pulled out a plastic hand-clapping device. It’s a rule that staff have to clap whenever they hear the announcements. The engagement Wong’s song elicits has helped staff on 14 CC buy into what their interdisciplinary hand hygiene committee has instructed since forming in July 2013 when compliance rates for before patient
contact – Moment 1 of 4 – were a dismal 30 per cent; the hospital’s target is 65 per cent. Former St. Michael’s registered nurse Qasim Mohiuddin, the committee’s head at its inception, said the staff “is so busy in their tasks that sometimes they need friendly reminders to help them remember to wash their hands.” Now headed by Wong, the committee identified barriers to success, such as too few hand sanitizers in less-than-optimal positions, and immediately began addressing the issues. Bold signs emblazoned with “Stop, wash your hands” went up in highly visible locations across the unit. Sanitizers were attached to every workstation. There was no escaping the reminders. Continued on page 5
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