Model message on handwashing
A lifesize cardboard ‘talking’ nurse at Newark Hospital is being used as part of the latest campaign to encourage visitors and staff to wash their hands.
The nurse has been placed at the entrance to the Minster surgical ward and says an electronically recorded message: “Stop, wash your hands” when people walk past. The nurse has a sensor, which is activated by movement.
The figure, an enlarged photograph of Sue Davey, an infection control nurse at Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital, is being used by Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust to reduce infections such as MRSA and clostridium difficile by promoting good hand hygiene.
It has been provided by the East Midlands Strategic Health Authority as part of the national Hand in Hand, fighting infection together campaign, run by the Department of Health.
The ward sister, Mrs Sue Baliol-Key, said the cardboard nurse had received a positive response from staff and visitors.
She said: “People have mentioned it when they have come on to the ward.
“It’s a good visual reminder. It’s another thing we are doing to help promote hygiene and hand washing.
“There are a lot of people coming and going on the ward, not just nursing staff. It’s a good habit for them to get into.
“Anything that gets them to remember to use the hand gel before they come on to the ward is a good thing,” she said.
Mrs Baliol-Key said it was a common misconception that MRSA was something you could catch only in hospital.
“Many people don’t realise you can walk around with MRSA yourself. People do walk around with it on their skin,” she said.
A spokesman for the trust said another nurse should be in place at the hospital this week.
Throughout the hospital there are posters on display and brightly coloured signs at the entrances to each of the wards reminding people to wash their hands.
The hospital also has two ultra-violet light machines, costing £300 each, that are used to educate visitors about hand hygiene.
A cream is applied to the hands which shows up under the light and visitors are then asked to wash their hands. They put their hands back under the light to check if they have fully removed the cream.
