>> Hi, my name is Nimalie Stone, and I'm one of the CDC leads
for the COVID-19 response in long-term care facilities.
Today, we are going to talk
about how clean hands combat COVID-19
and discuss some key points for understanding the role
of hand hygiene in COVID-19 prevention.
This is part of the key, COVID-19 messages
for frontline long-term care staff.
The residents you care for in nursing homes
and assisted living facilities are the most vulnerable
to COVID-19 infection.
Because of their age, frailty, and chronic medical needs,
nursing home residents are more likely
to have severe illness leading to hospitalization and death,
8 out of every 10 deaths from COVID-19 has occurred
in adults over 65 years of age.
We all must take action now to protect them.
You've probably heard a lot about hand hygiene before,
but did you know that nursing staff can touch
up to 15 different surfaces during a single
care interaction?
That means an average nurse working
with five residents each hour would be expected to touch
over 900 surfaces during a shift.
Viruses, like the Coronavirus causing COVID-19 bacteria,
including C. diff and other germs can all be spread
from our hands to our residents, their care equipment,
and other surfaces in the room.
Cleaning our hands often during these interactions contains
their spread.
There are four important moments when you must clean your hands;
before any contact with a resident or their environment,
before every clean procedure,
such as placing a urinary catheter or peripheral IV,
after handling soiled items or body fluids,
including after emptying a urinary catheter collection bag,
and after teaching the resident or his or her environment.
If you clean your hands at each of these moments,
you will be doing your best to protect your facility.
You've probably had many in-services
about hand hygiene technique, but did you know
that alcohol based hand sanitizers are preferred
by the CDC for most hand hygiene opportunities?
And washing is recommended when hands are visibly dirty
or contaminate, such as after caring for residents
with infectious causes of diarrhea,
like norovirus or C. diff.
Why does CDC prefer alcohol based hand sanitizers?
Well, it's because they are extremely effective
against Coronavirus, influenza,
and many antibiotic resistant germs.
In fact, studies have shown, hand sanitizer is more effective
than washing hands with soap and water.
Why? Because the alcohol hand [inaudible]
and gels start killing germs immediately.
These products are easy to use because they coat the surfaces
of your hands and aren't relying on perfect technique
or a certain amount of time, also,
you can put up hand sanitizer dispensers all
over the building, at the bedside even,
which is hard to do with sinks.
And the good news is that hand sanitizers are less drying
and less hard on your skin
than constantly washing your hands with soap and water.
We don't always think about time,
but our nails can actually provide a safe space for germs
to hide, away from the killing effects of soap or sanitizers,
although we all enjoy pampering our hands with manicures,
people taking care of residents should really avoid artificial
nails and keep their natural nails trimmed,
that way we aren't taking a chance
that our hand hygiene isn't effectively getting rid
of all the germs.
We all use a lot of gloves during resident care,
but we have to remember that while gloves protect our hands,
they are not a substitute for hand hygiene.
We should be cleaning our hands after every glove removal,
and making sure we don't accidentally use the same pair
of gloves with more than one resident.
We don't realize how much we touch faces, our hair,
or our clothing during the day, so be mindful
of what you're touching and definitely don't teach yourself
or reach into your pocket with gloved hands.
Also, although we are trying to conserve our use
of personal protective equipment,
we should not be washing glove with soap and water
to try to use them again.
So remember, clean hands protect everyone; you,
your residents, and even your family.
Do your part to stop the spread of COVID-19
by cleaning your hands frequently
and reminding others to do the same.
We are all in this together and sometimes it helps
to have a friendly reminder when we get busy.
Support your residents in cleaning their hands too,
before meals, after toileting, and throughout the day.
If they have clean hands, then everything
around them also stays a little cleaner.
Bring your good hand hygiene practices home as well so you,
your family, and your community, all stay safe.
Here are links to a variety of resources available
on the CDC website, they provide more information about COVID-19,
additional guidance and tools.
Thank you.