The hand hygiene training gap and innovative ways to train healthcare professionals

2024-05-05
 
 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – May 5, 2024 – Tork, an Essity brand, is proud to recognize and participate in World Hand Hygiene Day, an initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness of the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement globally. Tork, the world’s number one professional hygiene brand1, is supporting World Hand Hygiene Day through its hygiene product and training solutions for healthcare, as well as its recent commitment (https://www.torkusa.com/press-releases/make-hygiene-more-inclusive-in-restroom)to advancing hygiene inclusivity in public restrooms – including hand hygiene inclusivity – by ensuring all individuals are able to pursue proper hygiene in these settings. 
 
Safe care starts with hand hygiene
 
Healthcare professionals are exposed to pathogens frequently throughout the day – whether through close contact with patients or interaction with high touch surfaces such as doorknobs, bedrails, or patient bathrooms. While the importance of hand hygiene is widely understood among healthcare providers, following hand hygiene best practices can be challenging and there is a growing need to empower effective implementation of sustainable, accessible and scalable hygiene procedures.
 
Healthcare professionals are looking for hand hygiene knowledge and training opportunities. Tork research found that about 80% of professionals have expressed a desire to improve their hand hygiene at work. Knowledge is power, and healthcare professionals need engaging learning experiences and more interactive education opportunities to bridge the knowledge gap and maintain hand hygiene. The best way to help improve hand hygiene is by consistent, hands-on training.
 
However, in a fast-paced, demanding environment, it can be challenging to sustain hand hygiene adherence. Studies show that some healthcare providers practice proper hand hygiene less than half of the recommended time, which might include sanitizing hands in average 100-150 times during a 12-hour shift, depending on the patient volume and intensity of care2.
 
This is where Tork can help – with Tork Clean Hands training and Tork hand sanitizing systems. Tork Virtual Reality (VR) Clean Hands Training and Education is a free and interactive exercise specifically designed to make hand hygiene training more engaging than ever before. VR is not only engaging but highly effective in helping drive behavioral changes and accelerate deeper learning.  According to research, we only remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear and 30% of what we see. However, when doing or simulating an action like one does as a part of VR, we remember as much as 90%3.
 
The Tork interactive and immersive trainings help healthcare professionals effectively implement hygiene practices and improve adherence across the WHO’s 5 moments of hand hygiene. This is a key component to bridging the knowledge gap and driving sustainable hand hygiene and patient safety.
 
Dr. Claire Kilpatrick, Director, KSHealthcare Consulting said: “Sharing hand hygiene knowledge is important because hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways to keep people safe from infection, help people understand when and how to perform hand hygiene, and achieve public health targets in a cost-effective way. When the 65 million healthcare workers around the globe train and act on hand hygiene, they help save lives – yours, a loved one’s and those most vulnerable in society.”
 
 
 
For more information:
 
• World Hand Hygiene Day 2024 (who.int) – www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day
 
For additional information please contact: FHTork@fleishman.com

References


1 *Based on 2023 global sales of Tork branded products & services for professional use.
2 Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020-02-25 (https://www.cdc.gov/patientsafety/features/clean-hands-count.html#:~:text=Hand%20hygiene%20is%20a%20great,patients%20on%20any%20given%20day.) 
3 The Cone of Learning, 2005 (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-cone-of-learning-Krivickas-2005_fig1_281191978)