Project Name: Brattleboro
Memorial Hospital Patient Safety Initiative
focusing on Prevention of Healthcare Acquired
Infections
Time Frame: November 2006 and ongoing
Aim Statement:
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital endeavors to improve
outcomes and ensure the quality of care our
patients receive with an emphasis on safety.
It is our goal to provide safe, quality evidence-based
care to our patients throughout the continuum
of care.
Description
The purpose of the Joint Commission’s
National Patient Safety Goals is to promote
specific improvements in patient safety. The
Joint Commission’s Patient Safety Goals
highlight problematic areas in health care and
describe evidence and expert-based solutions
to these problems. Sound system design is intrinsic
to the delivery of safe, high quality health
care, the Joint Commission’s Patient Safety
Goals focus on system-wide solutions, wherever
possible. Brattleboro Memorial Hospital support
and commit to implementation of the Joint Commission’s
Patient Safety Goals
One of these goals is:
Reduce the risk of health care-associated infections:
Goals and Measures
The Nursing Performance Improvement
(PI) Committee, based on results of an independent
audit on hand hygiene of Health Care Workers
@ BMH, identified a problem with compliance
with current CDC hand hygiene. The Nursing PI
Committee formulated a Performance Improvement
Initiative with an aim to educate health care
workers, patients and their families about hand
hygiene: its importance and the proper technique
of hand hygiene utilizing soap and water as
well as with hand gel. The PI Initiative will
then evaluate its effect on compliance with
CDC hand hygiene guidelines.
Interventions
This Hand-washing PI Initiative involved several
‘action steps’. These action steps
included:
