Hand Hygiene CAN Save a Patient’s Life
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Author – Victoria Nahum
Co-Founder and Director
Safe Care Campaign (Atlanta, Georgia)
My name is Victoria Nahum. Almost 5 years ago, my husband Armando and I learned the hardest lesson of our lives. We learned that losing our 27 year old son Joshua to a healthcare-associated infection didn’t have to happen; even worse, his untimely death may have been prevented by some simple steps we wish we would have known back then. [Read Josh’s story.]
Perhaps the bitter knowledge that he did not die of his original diagnosis (injuries from a skydiving accident), but died instead of what health experts tell us was most likely preventable (a Gram-negative infection he caught during his care) is the hardest thing we live with every day.
In 2006, when Josh was first admitted to the hospital his father and I read and obeyed the sign on the door that simply said, “All visitors must wash their hands before entering the ICU.”
Little did we know that practicing proper hand hygiene just ONCE upon entering his room was not nearly enough. In fact, best practices require that caregivers and visitors wash or sanitize their hands prior to, and after touching, patients and/or objects in the hospital room. This is because the germs that are so prevalent in American hospitals. At any given time, about 1 in every 20 patients has an infection related to their hospital care.
The CDC says that proper hand hygiene is the NUMBER ONE WAY we can all help to prevent spreading these germs to the patients. And that’s why every single person who enters a patient’s room must always practice proper hand hygiene whether they intend to touch them or not. Never be afraid to ask a caregiver – even a doctor – to wash or sanitize their hands when they enter the room.
In the end, we learned that what you don’t know CAN hurt someone you love. Hand hygiene saves lives; this I know this from experience. Be sure that you learn about, practice, and insist upon proper hand hygiene when you or a loved one is receiving medical care.
Victoria and Armando Nahum are directors of the Safe Care Campaign. The Nahum’s founded Safe Care Campaign in 2006 after three members of their family, in three different hospitals in three different states, within 1 years’ time all became contaminated while being medically treated for something else. In October of 2006, their son Joshua died of his infection. He was 27.
Just weeks after Josh’s death, she and her husband Armando created
Safe Care Campaign to bring a sharper focus on infection prevention within the American health care environment. Safe Care Campaign partners with healthcare systems, hospital administrations and frontline caregivers to remind, provoke, motivate and inspire all who work within the continuum of care of their most noble challenge and moral duty to prevent these infections that annually infect more than 1.7 million and kill more than 99,000 patients in the U.S.
Safe Care Campaign works diligently to shed light upon the problem of health-relate infections as well as possible solutions. Their interactive, comprehensive Guide to Preventing Infections is free and available online.
The story of Safe Care Campaign’s work has been featured on many national and local television and radio programs; most recently, in July 2009 on CNN’S “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” as well as the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” and FOX News, as well as in numerous articles in journals and publications including “Infection Control Today,” and most recently, CNN’s “The Empowered Patient.”
Victoria speaks throughout the world to chief executives, physicians and nursing staff, presenting a powerfully moving and amazingly encouraging message entitled: “Change One Thing, Change Everything – The Power of One.”
As an educational venue, Safe Care Campaign’s website is a comprehensive resource for clinicians as well as the general public with important and helpful information on infection prevention and the steps that lead there.
Victoria currently sits on The Joint Commission’s Patient and Family Safety Advisory and has recently co-produced a patient safety video – the healthcare counterpart to the FAA safety demonstration that airlines are required to show passengers before every flight. The admissions video was created to be used as part of every hospital admission process and was produced in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and APIC.