Handwashing Battle: Handwashing

                Compliance in Hospitals

“You Can Lead a Doctor to Water, But Can You Get Him to Wash His Hands?”

According to a recent article in the New York Times by Steven Levitt, doctors don’t wash their hands as often as they should.  For evidence, the author points out that according to the Institute of Medicine, there are over 44,000 deaths each year from hospital errors, the leading cause being the spread of bacterial infections!   The sad part is this: Many of these deaths could have been prevented by the simple act of handwashing!

                                 Why Many Doctors Fail

                     at Handwashing Hygiene

 Doctor Leon Bender, a doctor at Cedars-Senai Medical Center, was impressed with the handwashing hygiene practiced on a cruise ship where he was one of the passengers.  After each port of call, passengers were not allowed back on the ship until they scrubbed their hands with Purell provided by the crew.

It occurred to Doctor Bender that this cruise ship practice was superior to the hygiene practiced at the hospital.  After a brain storming session, a group of the hospital’s top brass came up with the following reasons why doctors neglect to wash their hands as often as they should:

• Doctors are busy
• A sink or handwashing station is not always handy
• Sometimes equipment blocks the sink area
• This one hurts…arrogance!  As one doctor put it, “Doctors believe that they are not passing bugs around, someone else is doing it!”

Handwashing Initiatives at Cedars-Senai Medical Center

Cedars-Senai Medical Center tried the old “caught you doing something good” approach.  An appointed handwashing posse gave rewards to doctors caught scrubbing their hands!  Hey, everyone appreciates a little pat on the back and that includes doctors.  One of the rewards was a $10.00 gift certificate at Starbucks.  

The handwashing posse had a positive effect as handwashing compliance increased.

We all can help in the prevention of disease by promoting the importance of handwashing!

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