Toronto’s The Hospital for
Sick Children—popularly
known as SickKids—is a
role model for effective
care of its young patients.
One of the world’s largest
and most respected pediatric academic health science
centers, SickKids is also a
leader in Ontario’s efforts
to continuously improve
hand hygiene compliance
among staff.
In 2009, the Ministry of Health
launched a “Just Clean Your Hands”
campaign in Ontario hospitals. SickKids
readily adopted this program, and
according to Laurie Streitenberger,
senior manager of SickKids’ infection
prevention and control (IPAC) program,
the facility set out to create a culture
focused on improving hand hygiene
compliance and behaviors.
The Challenge: Achieving Hand
Hygiene Best Practice
One of the most important tools in
keeping healthcare workers’ hands
clean is alcohol-based hand rub. More
and wet time, otherwise our nurses
would be pumping them two, three,
four times,” Streitenberger explained.
“If we’re going to be models of hand
hygiene, we need to have the proper
product dispensed in the right dose.”
than 1,700 sanitizer dispensers are
installed across the entire SickKids
hospital, and historically the facility
used a variety of hand hygiene products
in different dispensing formats. As
part of its continuous improvement
program, a peer-to-peer approach
designed to constantly evolve hand
hygiene compliance, the hospital
sought to standardize its sanitizer,
soap and lotion dispensers and to
make them easier to use within staff
workflow.
“Our wall dispensers need to distribute
the appropriate amount of product to
meet the World Health Organization’s
(WHO) guidelines for hand coverage
The Solution: Just Once, Just Right,
with Optidose
The hospital brought this challenge
to DebMed, the hospital’s long-time
provider of hand hygiene products.
DebMed introduced the hospital’s
IPAC team to Optidose, the first
The Challenge:
Achieving Hand
Hygiene Best Practice.
The Solution:
Just Once, Just Right,
with Optidose.
The Results:
Engaged Staff,
Improved Compliance.
single-dose foaming sanitizer dispensing
technology. Optidose dispenses
enough sanitizer to meet the WHO
guidelines for a 20 to 30 seconds wet
time and full hand coverage, with
just one pump. The hospital viewed
Optidose as a solution to meet the
need to standardize the hand hygiene
products and dispensers throughout
the hospital.
SickKids swapped out all its existing
dispensers for new Optidose dispensers
hospital-wide.
The Results: Engaged Staff, Improved
Compliance
“Internally, Optidose was well received,”
Streitenberger reported. “Staff quickly
became keen on needing only one
pump for the right amount of sanitizer.”
Further, Optidose
“We upgraded all
“Optidose met the best has played an
the dispensers at
important role
practice standard of
SickKids to Optidose
in the constant
dispensers and
having enough sanitizer improvement in
cartridges as a way
hand hygiene comfor 20 to 30 seconds
to standardize
pliance. “Hand
the system,”
of sanitizing time and
hygiene is definitely
Streitenberger
everyone’s radar,
sufficient hand coverage, on
said. “Optidose
and accessibility,
met the best
in one dose. It was all ease of use and
practice standard
staff engagement
about patient safety.”
of having enough
are contributing
sanitizer for 20
to sustaining and
to 30 seconds of
exceeding our targets,” Streitenberger
sanitizing time and sufficient hand
affirmed.
coverage, in one dose. It was all about
patient safety.”
A key element in any hand hygiene
improvement program is to offer a
product that staff wants to use, and
engaging staff in hand hygiene can
only bring about positive outcomes
in the prevention of healthcareassociated infections.
U.S.: 866.783.0422
Canada: 888.332.7627
www.DebMed.com