ABSTRACT
Hand hygiene is the foundation of effective infection control in health care settings, including in areas designated for blood collection. However, in such areas, patients are assigned in rapid succession and hand hygiene can lapse due to time pressure. Therefore, we examined a more efficient hand hygiene technique with consideration of these time constraints. An infection control issue was noted during a blood test procedure, based on Kiken Yochi Training. Meetings were then held to discuss the issue and a study was proposed to test a more efficient hand hygiene technique as a solution. The hand hygiene technique involved (1) performing hand hygiene after glove removal, (2) wearing gloves just before directly touching the patient, and (3) concentrating on the finger and hand areas involved in glove removal when performing hand hygiene using a rapid-drying hand disinfectant. These three items were compared before and after the change of procedure using a rapid-drying hand disinfectant. The results confirmed that it is possible to practice efficient hand hygiene by recognizing the areas of the hand that are contaminated during the blood collection procedure. Difficulties involving hand hygiene in a blood collection area include thoroughness in using one glove for one patient and time constraints. We suggest that performing effective infection control is possible by unifying the timing of appropriate hand hygiene with the timing of blood collection.
ABSTRACT
Although the Outpatient Cancer Chemotherapy (OCC) Unit was established with in Anjo-Kosei Hospital in 2006, its real worth remains to be elucidated. To address this, the following subjects were examined;effective usage of hospital beds changes in the number of outpatients given to chemotherapy, length of hospitalization, the number of patients transferred by ambulance to the hospital, hospital occupancy rate, and the number of frequently used chemotherapy regimens.Since the establishment of the OCC Unit, the number of patients transferred by ambulance has increased and length of hospitalization has gradually decreased, accompanied by the increase in the number of outpatients treated at the OCC Unit. Additionally, no significant change was observed in the hospital occupancy rate. Furthermore, of the frequently used chemotherapy regimens, nine regimens were available for 62.4% of the total number of outpatients of the OCC Unit.These results indicated the useful effect of the establishment of the OCC Unit on the usage of hospital beds, and provided significant information helpful in promoting the effective and safe chemotherapy for outpatients in the OCC Unit.