AORN and 3M Collaborate on Hand Hygiene Initiative

To raise awareness of the deadly risks associated with poor hand hygiene and encourage best practices among nurses and other healthcare professionals, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and 3M Infection Prevention announced today an initiative to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)  in the surgical setting. HAIs account for nearly 100,000 deaths each year, nearly six percent of the total HAIs reported annually.(1)

The “It’s In Your Hands” campaign spotlights AORN’s recently updated “Recommended Practices for Hand Hygiene in the Perioperative Setting,” and through new and creative programs will engage and recognize nurses from around the country for exemplary hand hygiene compliance. The campaign will include a YouTube video contest in which nurses will demonstrate the updated hand hygiene protocols through short videos, as well as a recognition program for those who have gone above and beyond to lead their organizations in reducing HAIs through good hand hygiene practices.

“Proper hand hygiene remains one of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent and control healthcare-associated infections,” said Linda Groah, RN MSN CNOR FAAN, executive director/CEO of AORN.  “This partnership with 3M reinforces hand hygiene standards by helping to creatively inform nurses who are on the front lines of surgical care and give them tools to inform and engage their peer groups.”

The AORN Recommended Practices for Hand Hygiene in the Perioperative Setting were revised and published earlier this year (July 2009) and define the perioperative setting as traditional operating rooms, ambulatory surgery centers, physician’s offices, cardiac catheterization laboratories, endoscopy suites, radiology departments and all other areas where surgery and other invasive procedures may be performed.(2) The practices outline recommended procedures, protocols and evaluation methods for hand hygiene.  Included are recommendations for products that include alcohol-based antiseptic hand rub with documented persistent (or prolonged antimicrobial activity) and cumulative (progressive decrease of microorganisms over time) activity that has met Food and Drug Administration regulatory requirements for surgical hand antisepsis.