CLARKSVILLE, Md. — Be sure to wash up, Maryland doctors and nurses. You’re being watched.
State officials said Tuesday they’re creating teams of staff members at hospitals around the state to secretly monitor their colleagues’ hand-washing habits as part of a first-of-its-kind program. The monitors will contribute to a systemwide report on hand-washing, using $100,000 in federal stimulus money.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said individuals who are lax on scrubbing up won’t be penalized. Rather, the idea is to gather information about which hospital staffs need to do a better job and raise awareness about the importance of keeping hands clean while dealing with patients
“This certainly is not an effort to do a gotcha,” Brown said. “We’re better off with providers actually using proper hand hygiene than calling out those that don’t, so a big component of this in every hospital will be that continual education and awareness.”
Teams will be formed at 45 of the state’s 47 hospitals to monitor their colleagues after they leave a patient. The monitors will be given time separate from their regular duties to do the research, but they won’t let the doctors and nurses know when they’re being watched.
The information being gathered starting in January will be compiled into statistics on hand-washing across the hospital system and allow for comparison between the facilities. The Maryland Patient Safety Center, which works with hospitals and health care providers to improve patient safety, will implement the program.
The program is the first time a state has used direct observation to compile hand-washing data on practitioners across hospitals statewide to compare practices, said Nicole Stallings, director of the Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council. No other state has used stimulus money for a hand-washing study, either, she said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
