Topics: Hand Hygiene
Baby Isaac had been doing well with the care provided. He is stable, with all vital signs in normal range. He is Day of life 8. Two nurses are doing hand over at the end of a night shift in one of the NCU room where babies in incubators (incubator room) are cared. The good thing about this room is that at the top of each incubator there is a bottle filled with alcohol 70% for hand rub. Isaac is sleeping inside incubator A; the day duty Nurse opens the portholes of incubator A. She/he asks the mother and the night duty nurse about Isaac feeding and examines his abdomen. The abdomen shape and skin are normal, the cord had completely dried and off, the abdomen is soft on palpation and no organomegaly observed. After completing the abdomen assessment, she/he went back at the entrance of the room, washes her/his hands in the sink with soap and water and wait them to dry on air. She/ he makes notes in the Isaac’s file/chart and then passes to the next incubator B for next baby handover.
Please answer:
Question 1: Was the day duty Nurse compliant with good hand hygiene practice?
Explain your answer.
Question 2: Which of “the World Health Organization (WHO) Five Moments for Hand
Hygiene” did she/he miss?
Question 3: Was the soap and water the most appropriate method of hand hygiene?
Question 4: What would you do, if you were the night duty nurse?
Question 5: In your Neonatology setting, what are measures in place to improve/ maintain the hand hygiene compliance?