The Pulse of Providence January February 2014 | Page 4

Foam In Foam Out: Clean Hands Matter
According to the Center for Disease
Control, hospital patients get nearly 2
million infections each year. Infections
that patients get in the hospital can
be life-threatening and hard to treat.
Hand hygiene is one of the most important ways to
prevent the spread of infections.
Providence is committed to providing
healing without harm: each and every associate
needs to do your part in remembering good
hand hygiene. It takes just 15 seconds using hand
sanitizing foam, and 20 seconds with warm soap
and water. Those seconds can save lives.

KEY POINTS OF WHEN TO
WASH YOUR HANDS
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We ended 2013 at 77.27% hand hygiene compliance.
Clean hands save lives. Make a commitment to provide
safe, effect ive care to your patients by remembering hand
hygiene each time you enter and leave a patient’s room.

Before AND after patient contact
Happy Birthday to You! Wash your hands with soap and warm
After contact with blood, body fluids, or
water for 15 to 20 seconds. That’s about the same amount of
contaminated surfaces (even if gloves are worn)
time that it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice.
Before invasive procedures
No Soap? No Problem. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are
After removing gloves (wearing gloves is not
more effective than soap and water in killing germs. Hand
enough to prevent the transmission of pathogens
sanitizing dispensers are located inside and outside of every
in healthcare settings)
patient room. To use the sanitizing foam, apply a golf-ball size
Before eating
amount of foam to the palm of your hand and rub your hands
together vigorously for 15 seconds until dry.
After using the restroom

Root Beer Floats Can Make a Difference
As Providence associates, it is our responsibility to not only meet, but exceed the expectations of every
patient and family that comes to us for care. Alice Adam, RN, BSN, director of clinical programs at
Providence DePaul Center, learned at an early age that sometimes it can be the seemingly “small” things
that make the biggest difference—whether it is offering an extra blanket, passing along an extra smile, or
serving up a “root beer float.” Click Here to read how Alice’s grandmother taught her that patients may
“simply need a ‘root beer float’ to feel a little better even in the direst of circumstances.”
Article appeared in the September 2013 issue of Woodway/West Waco Life.

February is Heart Month!
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends.
Join us in raising awareness about heart disease by wearing red on Friday, February 7.
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Heart disease is for men, and cancer is the
real threat for women.
Heart disease is for old people.
Heart disease doesn’t affect women who are fit.
I don’t have any symptoms.

4 • The Pulse of Providence

• Heart disease runs in my family,
so there’s nothing I can do about it.

Click Here to find out the FACTS behind
these heart disease myths.