CA2807337A1 - Hand hygiene reminder system - Google Patents
Hand hygiene reminder system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2807337A1 CA2807337A1 CA 2807337 CA2807337A CA2807337A1 CA 2807337 A1 CA2807337 A1 CA 2807337A1 CA 2807337 CA2807337 CA 2807337 CA 2807337 A CA2807337 A CA 2807337A CA 2807337 A1 CA2807337 A1 CA 2807337A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- hand
- alarm
- hand hygiene
- dispenser
- staff
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
- A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
- A47K5/00—Holders or dispensers for soap, toothpaste, or the like
- A47K5/06—Dispensers for soap
- A47K5/12—Dispensers for soap for liquid or pasty soap
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G08—SIGNALLING
- G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
- G08B21/00—Alarms responsive to a single specified undesired or abnormal condition and not otherwise provided for
- G08B21/18—Status alarms
- G08B21/24—Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
- G08B21/245—Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands
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- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Public Health (AREA)
- Epidemiology (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Emergency Management (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Apparatus For Disinfection Or Sterilisation (AREA)
Abstract
A hand hygiene reminder system for everyone (staff, public) entering specified settings OR rooms within the setting (school and hospital rooms, restaurant kitchens, etc.). This is NOT a monitoring or detection system. Includes hand sanitizer dispenser with motion sensor activation which detects individuals entering the setting at the entrance point. If they do not put their hand under the dispenser for it to dispense an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, an audible alarm will activate and will continue until the individual takes hand sanitizer from the dispenser which will then deactivate the alarm. The enclosure in the dispenser sends output of the motion sensor to a signal which activates the alarm sound. The system can be operated electrically through wires, plug outlet or batteries.
The alarm has unique features of presetting the volume and the timer: time lag before the alarm activates; when the volume can be louder or lower depending on time of day.
The alarm has unique features of presetting the volume and the timer: time lag before the alarm activates; when the volume can be louder or lower depending on time of day.
Description
=
Invention Title Hand Hygiene Reminder System FIELD
This device is applicable to the general field of hand hygiene practices and behaviours in various settings. A device that will elicit a reminder to practice hand hygiene through the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. It ensures that individuals have dispensed hand sanitizer from the dispenser before entering a specified setting or room.
The end result will be that hand hygiene will be practiced as a result of this novel reminder system.
BACKGROUND AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INVENTION/DEVICE
Why is hand hygiene important?
Many sources including the Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health sectors throughout the country and the world have indicated that hand hygiene is the most important and efficient way of preventing the spread of infections. This is relevant in all settings and in particular importance in the huMan services sectors such as hospitals, food handling establishments and schools. This new device can address the low adherence of hand hygiene practices encountered in health care settings in particular as well as other human service settings.
Increase of Health care acquired infections and mortality rates There is a direct correlation between proper and consistent hand hygiene practices and reduction in the transmission of infections. The College of Nurses of Ontario state that "proper hand hygiene is the single most important infection prevention and control practice". Health care associated infections are still a patient safety issue and represent significant adverse outcomes in our health care systems (Baker et al, 2004; Stone et al, 2004). The definition of a health care associated or hospital acquired infection (HAI) is that the individual got the infection during the process of care in a health care setting (such as a hospital) which was not present or incubating at the time of the admission (Ducel, G., et al.; WHO, 2002). This is important because of the direct correlation between proper and consistent hand hygiene practices and the reduction in the transmission of infections. This is why hand hygiene is one of the five key initiatives indicated by the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the first strategy is to improve hand hygiene practices (Global Patient Safety Challenge, WHO, 2006).
Another factor is that infections cost the government a lot of money and significantly increase mortality rates. In Canada there is an estimated 220,000 patients that get a hospital acquired infection (HA!) such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or Clostridium difficile which costs the government $40 to $52 million dollars (Birnbaum, 2007). Patients with one or more HAI's during the in-patient stay remain in the hospital longer and incur costs that are on average three times greater than uninfected patients (Plowman et al, 2001). It is also fatal; in Canada, there are 8000 deaths per year from hospital acquired infections (HAI's) (Zoutman et al, 2003). HAI's are the 4th leading cause of death in Canada and the vehicle determined most commonly as the spread are the hands of health care workers (Zoutman, et al, 2003).
This is why our device will help staff and visitors; by reminding them to clean their hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Invention Title Hand Hygiene Reminder System FIELD
This device is applicable to the general field of hand hygiene practices and behaviours in various settings. A device that will elicit a reminder to practice hand hygiene through the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. It ensures that individuals have dispensed hand sanitizer from the dispenser before entering a specified setting or room.
The end result will be that hand hygiene will be practiced as a result of this novel reminder system.
BACKGROUND AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INVENTION/DEVICE
Why is hand hygiene important?
Many sources including the Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health sectors throughout the country and the world have indicated that hand hygiene is the most important and efficient way of preventing the spread of infections. This is relevant in all settings and in particular importance in the huMan services sectors such as hospitals, food handling establishments and schools. This new device can address the low adherence of hand hygiene practices encountered in health care settings in particular as well as other human service settings.
Increase of Health care acquired infections and mortality rates There is a direct correlation between proper and consistent hand hygiene practices and reduction in the transmission of infections. The College of Nurses of Ontario state that "proper hand hygiene is the single most important infection prevention and control practice". Health care associated infections are still a patient safety issue and represent significant adverse outcomes in our health care systems (Baker et al, 2004; Stone et al, 2004). The definition of a health care associated or hospital acquired infection (HAI) is that the individual got the infection during the process of care in a health care setting (such as a hospital) which was not present or incubating at the time of the admission (Ducel, G., et al.; WHO, 2002). This is important because of the direct correlation between proper and consistent hand hygiene practices and the reduction in the transmission of infections. This is why hand hygiene is one of the five key initiatives indicated by the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the first strategy is to improve hand hygiene practices (Global Patient Safety Challenge, WHO, 2006).
Another factor is that infections cost the government a lot of money and significantly increase mortality rates. In Canada there is an estimated 220,000 patients that get a hospital acquired infection (HA!) such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or Clostridium difficile which costs the government $40 to $52 million dollars (Birnbaum, 2007). Patients with one or more HAI's during the in-patient stay remain in the hospital longer and incur costs that are on average three times greater than uninfected patients (Plowman et al, 2001). It is also fatal; in Canada, there are 8000 deaths per year from hospital acquired infections (HAI's) (Zoutman et al, 2003). HAI's are the 4th leading cause of death in Canada and the vehicle determined most commonly as the spread are the hands of health care workers (Zoutman, et al, 2003).
This is why our device will help staff and visitors; by reminding them to clean their hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Decreasing 'sick time' and infection spread in communities Since it well evidenced that hand hygiene reduces the transmission of infections, our hand hygiene reminder system will decrease the spread of infection in any setting.
This will thereby decrease sick times for staff in the setting and others who enter the same settings! Our reminder system ensures that anyone entering the setting or the room with our device installed will have to clean their hands with hand sanitizer. For example somebody with a common cold entering a retirement home would have to clean their hands before making physical contact with their relative. Or someone with a cough entering a school would have to clean their hands before being exposed to the children and staff in the school. Another example is kitchen staff or cooks;
before entering or re-entering the kitchen after using the bathroom, they would have to clean their hands with the hand sanitizer.
Government mandated in health care settings The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario created a program called Just Clean your Hands (JCYH) in 2008. JCYH is an evidence-based program to improve compliance with hand hygiene best practices in health care settings to prevent healthcare associated infections and promote patient safety. In 2009, JCYH was adapted and rolled out for use in long-term care homes, and launched to retirement homes in 2011 (http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ en/ms/handhygiene/). In the program hospital and other health care settings in Ontario must follow an evidence based program of hand hygiene at what they call, the '4 moments of hand hygiene' Our device fits exactly in line with this program. Two of the 4 points of when health care workers should clean their hands is when they enter the setting and another one is when they exit the setting. (diagram to follow). Therefore when the staff person enters the room the alarm on the hand sanitizer device will be activated if they do not use hand sanitizer and the alarm will deactivate once the person dispenses hand sanitizer from the dispenser.
Why is hand hygiene not happening? Behaviour change is unsuccessful Although hand hygiene has been clearly indicated as evidence based practice, people are not increasing their hand hygiene practices. The creators of this patent application have particular experience and expertise as registered nurses with over 20 years in the health care field. We understand the unique needs of changing health care practices and behaviors in the busy and intense environment of the human services sector.
Sources indicate that although staff have been trained and the public have been notified at numerous times about best practices for hand hygiene and prevention of infection spread, the practice of hand hygiene has not increased significantly and the change in behavior is not consistent or long term. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that health care providers clean their hands when they are visibly soiled or for personal hygiene purposes but not before non-inherent practices such as taking a pulse or touching the environment which are also opportunities of infection spread. This novel device will help facilitate the behavior change by reminding the person to use hand sanitizer. This is similar to the car seatbelt alarm. Prior to this implementation the wearing of seatbelts did not make a significant increase.
However after the alarm was implemented there was a behavior change whereby people did put on their seatbelt. So why do we need to remind people to practice hand hygiene?
Firstly, educating hospital staff about proper hand hygiene is not working. We (the invention creators) have worked as clinical instructors in a hospital setting and were in charge of teaching proper hand hygiene practices to all staff. Even though the staff were able to recite all of the rationales for proper hand hygiene practices they were still not practicing it. We were responsible for monitoring hand hygiene practices on a weekly basis. We would position ourselves in the hallway where we could watch the staff enter and exit patient rooms. The staff could not see us watching. The results were that less than 10% of staff were cleaning their hands with hand sanitizer on entry and on exiting.
Therefore education alone was not helping change behaviour. Similar results of poor hand hygiene practices were reported by the WHO and other organizations However when there was a visual reminder, the hand hygiene rates increased!
For example when we positioned ourselves within the view of the staff, the staff member would see us and this would remind him/her to clean their hands every time they entered or exited a patient room. The visible reminder of seeing us would cause the staff to clean their hands. Therefore hospitals need a reminder method where hand hygiene practices can be at 100%. The sight of seeing their clinical instructor reminded them to clean their hands. The end result was that when we were standing there the staff cleaned their hands 100% of the time. However, it is not financially feasible to have hospital staff stand in the hallway all day to monitor hand hygiene practices on a regular basis. Yet along with the rates of infections in hospitals, the government:
Public Health Ontario requests the rates of hand hygiene practices through the monitoring done in the hallway by staff. "Direct observations of hand hygiene are to be completed by trained observers using a standardized and validated audit tool" (Public Health Ontario, 2011).
This means money is needed and used for direct observation of hand hygiene practices of staff. Our device can eventually lead to eliminating the need and cost of direct observation since our reminder system requires the person to use hand sanitizer in order for the alarm to shut off. According to results from December 2012 of direct observation most hospitals in Ontario are struggling to decrease the rate of infections.
"According to Public Health Ontario the observational audits from Just Clean Your Hands testing in Ontario showed a baseline general compliance rate of 40%."
(http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ en/ms/handhygiene/).
Why an alarm reminder? The psychology of behaviour The psychology of behavior change tells us that change will not happen if attitude towards the change is negative (Eagly, A.H., & Chaiken, S. 1993). Our reminder system is non-threatening and non-punitive therefore changing any negative connections or beliefs towards hand hygiene practices. Moreover our reminder system is NOT a monitoring or detection system and this will help by not creating any negative feelings or attitudes that can be then associated towards our device. This in turn will help increase hand hygiene practices. Our reminder system is for everyone. Its purpose is to remind everyone in the setting to use hand sanitizer to decrease the spread of infection.
Furthermore, the WHO reports that 91% of patients indicated they felt more confident about the health care system knowing there was a hand hygiene program in place.
However it can be quite uncomfortable and intimidating for a patient to ask the person who is caring for them, their health care provider if they cleaned their hands. "Patients who see the health care provider performing hand hygiene are reassured that everything is being done to protect them from unnecessary infections" (WHO, 2006). Thus our device will eliminate this stress and also allow the patient to feel a sense of empowerment and involvement in the care they are receiving.
The audible alarm informs the person that he/she did not clean their hands.
The audible alarm is incentive for the person to clean their hands with hand sanitizer in order to deactivate the alarm or prevent it from sounding in the first place. If they do not place get hand sanitizer from the our dispenser an audible alarm will sound and keep sounding until the person takes hand sanitizer from the dispenser which will then deactivate the alarm. Thus the alarm will also alert everyone that this person has not cleaned their hands upon entering a patient care room and it will alert everyone once the person has used the hand sanitizer because using it will deactivate the alarm.
This will promote a culture of change setting in a non-threatening, and non-punitive way for staff and anyone entering the setting.
Overall, our hand hygiene reminder system will enable staff to change their behavior because other staff and patients will hear the alarm sound too if they did not adhere to cleaning their hands. There will be an automatic timer which can be used to lower the volume on the alarm for nights when the patients are sleeping. This system is ideal for hospital settings because it does not target just staff but everyone entering the patient's room. Our system is a transparent way of promoting hand hygiene practice without monitoring and detection and without punitive consequences. Infections are caused by all people not just by staff (Global Patient Safety Challenge, WHO, 2006).
Our hand hygiene reminder also helps patients in their own care and gives them the ability to know that everyone cleaned their hands when entering their room and thus decreasing the chance that they get an infection. "Patients who see the health care provider performing hand hygiene are reassured that everything is being done to protect them from unnecessary infections." (Public Health Ontario).
Why use hand sanitizer as a hand hygiene practice? Rationale of using Hand sanitizer The WHO as well as many governments have stated that hand rubbing with alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used instead of hand washing when the hands are not visibly soiled or have been in contact with human fluids and or secretions. The WHO
also documented that hand washing takes more time than hand-rubbing with hand sanitizer. Hand washing takes up to 1.5 minutes for the entire procedure and hand rubbing with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer takes 15 seconds. Due to the level of intensity and fast paced activity in a health care setting using a hand sanitizer is advantageous for staff to use when they can:
"To make it possible for health care providers to clean their hands at the right time, an alcohol - based hand rub must be provided at the point-of-care, where busy health care providers can clean their hands without leaving the patient" (WHO, 2006).
"It is necessary to understand the complexity of clinical and patient care. In an average day health care workers do a range of tasks. Some essential yet simple tasks like helping patients become comfortable in bed can result in thousands of microorganisms being transferred onto the hands of health care workers. Taking a pulse or blood pressure results in transfer of equally large numbers of microorganisms. A
quick squirt of alcohol-based hand rub and the process of rubbing this on the hands until they are dry will destroy almost all of these potentially harmful microorganisms in a short time (15-30 seconds). An absence of hand hygiene at this point would mean that whichever patient the health care worker touches next would receive these microorganisms if hand hygiene is not performed" (http://www.oahpp.ca/services/jcyh/faq.html).
At the same time when people from the community enter a setting they are also carrying with them organisms that can spread infection. Our device does not discriminate who is staff and who are visitors, attendees or guests thereby enforcing hand hygiene practices for everyone and thereby keeping everyone safer by decreasing the risk of fatal infection transmission and spread.
Applicable to Other settings and facilities We propose that our invention and patent is to be applied to any and all settings that require or ask for a hand sanitizer dispenser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The device will be an alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispenser with a motion sensor and an alarm built in. The motion sensor is activated once an individual walks past the sensor which then activates the alarm IF the person who walked past it does not dispense hand sanitizer within the preset time. For example it can be set at two seconds. If the individual does not dispense hand sanitizer from the dispenser within two seconds the audible alarm will be set off and continue. It will be a beeping sound. The alarm will be deactivated once the individual gets hand sanitizer from the dispenser. If the individual takes hand sanitizer from the dispenser before the time lag then the alarm will be deactivated in this way as well. This is NOT a hand hygiene monitoring or detection system. Its purpose is to remind everyone in the setting that hand hygiene should be practiced with the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and also to elicit behavior change of the staff working and the people visiting the setting. Our system is a transparent way of promoting hand hygiene practice without monitoring and detection and without punitive consequences. We propose this patent to be applied to any and all settings whereby hand sanitizers can and will be requested to be used.
Our hand hygiene reminder is for everyone, including all staff, patients and visitors.
The hand hygiene reminder system will be installed at entrance points or anywhere the setting or organization requests it to be place. It is versatile; it can be installed and placed in outdoor and indoor settings.
Inventors: Archna Patel and Antonia Colarossi Figures and diagrams will follow shortly
This will thereby decrease sick times for staff in the setting and others who enter the same settings! Our reminder system ensures that anyone entering the setting or the room with our device installed will have to clean their hands with hand sanitizer. For example somebody with a common cold entering a retirement home would have to clean their hands before making physical contact with their relative. Or someone with a cough entering a school would have to clean their hands before being exposed to the children and staff in the school. Another example is kitchen staff or cooks;
before entering or re-entering the kitchen after using the bathroom, they would have to clean their hands with the hand sanitizer.
Government mandated in health care settings The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario created a program called Just Clean your Hands (JCYH) in 2008. JCYH is an evidence-based program to improve compliance with hand hygiene best practices in health care settings to prevent healthcare associated infections and promote patient safety. In 2009, JCYH was adapted and rolled out for use in long-term care homes, and launched to retirement homes in 2011 (http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ en/ms/handhygiene/). In the program hospital and other health care settings in Ontario must follow an evidence based program of hand hygiene at what they call, the '4 moments of hand hygiene' Our device fits exactly in line with this program. Two of the 4 points of when health care workers should clean their hands is when they enter the setting and another one is when they exit the setting. (diagram to follow). Therefore when the staff person enters the room the alarm on the hand sanitizer device will be activated if they do not use hand sanitizer and the alarm will deactivate once the person dispenses hand sanitizer from the dispenser.
Why is hand hygiene not happening? Behaviour change is unsuccessful Although hand hygiene has been clearly indicated as evidence based practice, people are not increasing their hand hygiene practices. The creators of this patent application have particular experience and expertise as registered nurses with over 20 years in the health care field. We understand the unique needs of changing health care practices and behaviors in the busy and intense environment of the human services sector.
Sources indicate that although staff have been trained and the public have been notified at numerous times about best practices for hand hygiene and prevention of infection spread, the practice of hand hygiene has not increased significantly and the change in behavior is not consistent or long term. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that health care providers clean their hands when they are visibly soiled or for personal hygiene purposes but not before non-inherent practices such as taking a pulse or touching the environment which are also opportunities of infection spread. This novel device will help facilitate the behavior change by reminding the person to use hand sanitizer. This is similar to the car seatbelt alarm. Prior to this implementation the wearing of seatbelts did not make a significant increase.
However after the alarm was implemented there was a behavior change whereby people did put on their seatbelt. So why do we need to remind people to practice hand hygiene?
Firstly, educating hospital staff about proper hand hygiene is not working. We (the invention creators) have worked as clinical instructors in a hospital setting and were in charge of teaching proper hand hygiene practices to all staff. Even though the staff were able to recite all of the rationales for proper hand hygiene practices they were still not practicing it. We were responsible for monitoring hand hygiene practices on a weekly basis. We would position ourselves in the hallway where we could watch the staff enter and exit patient rooms. The staff could not see us watching. The results were that less than 10% of staff were cleaning their hands with hand sanitizer on entry and on exiting.
Therefore education alone was not helping change behaviour. Similar results of poor hand hygiene practices were reported by the WHO and other organizations However when there was a visual reminder, the hand hygiene rates increased!
For example when we positioned ourselves within the view of the staff, the staff member would see us and this would remind him/her to clean their hands every time they entered or exited a patient room. The visible reminder of seeing us would cause the staff to clean their hands. Therefore hospitals need a reminder method where hand hygiene practices can be at 100%. The sight of seeing their clinical instructor reminded them to clean their hands. The end result was that when we were standing there the staff cleaned their hands 100% of the time. However, it is not financially feasible to have hospital staff stand in the hallway all day to monitor hand hygiene practices on a regular basis. Yet along with the rates of infections in hospitals, the government:
Public Health Ontario requests the rates of hand hygiene practices through the monitoring done in the hallway by staff. "Direct observations of hand hygiene are to be completed by trained observers using a standardized and validated audit tool" (Public Health Ontario, 2011).
This means money is needed and used for direct observation of hand hygiene practices of staff. Our device can eventually lead to eliminating the need and cost of direct observation since our reminder system requires the person to use hand sanitizer in order for the alarm to shut off. According to results from December 2012 of direct observation most hospitals in Ontario are struggling to decrease the rate of infections.
"According to Public Health Ontario the observational audits from Just Clean Your Hands testing in Ontario showed a baseline general compliance rate of 40%."
(http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ en/ms/handhygiene/).
Why an alarm reminder? The psychology of behaviour The psychology of behavior change tells us that change will not happen if attitude towards the change is negative (Eagly, A.H., & Chaiken, S. 1993). Our reminder system is non-threatening and non-punitive therefore changing any negative connections or beliefs towards hand hygiene practices. Moreover our reminder system is NOT a monitoring or detection system and this will help by not creating any negative feelings or attitudes that can be then associated towards our device. This in turn will help increase hand hygiene practices. Our reminder system is for everyone. Its purpose is to remind everyone in the setting to use hand sanitizer to decrease the spread of infection.
Furthermore, the WHO reports that 91% of patients indicated they felt more confident about the health care system knowing there was a hand hygiene program in place.
However it can be quite uncomfortable and intimidating for a patient to ask the person who is caring for them, their health care provider if they cleaned their hands. "Patients who see the health care provider performing hand hygiene are reassured that everything is being done to protect them from unnecessary infections" (WHO, 2006). Thus our device will eliminate this stress and also allow the patient to feel a sense of empowerment and involvement in the care they are receiving.
The audible alarm informs the person that he/she did not clean their hands.
The audible alarm is incentive for the person to clean their hands with hand sanitizer in order to deactivate the alarm or prevent it from sounding in the first place. If they do not place get hand sanitizer from the our dispenser an audible alarm will sound and keep sounding until the person takes hand sanitizer from the dispenser which will then deactivate the alarm. Thus the alarm will also alert everyone that this person has not cleaned their hands upon entering a patient care room and it will alert everyone once the person has used the hand sanitizer because using it will deactivate the alarm.
This will promote a culture of change setting in a non-threatening, and non-punitive way for staff and anyone entering the setting.
Overall, our hand hygiene reminder system will enable staff to change their behavior because other staff and patients will hear the alarm sound too if they did not adhere to cleaning their hands. There will be an automatic timer which can be used to lower the volume on the alarm for nights when the patients are sleeping. This system is ideal for hospital settings because it does not target just staff but everyone entering the patient's room. Our system is a transparent way of promoting hand hygiene practice without monitoring and detection and without punitive consequences. Infections are caused by all people not just by staff (Global Patient Safety Challenge, WHO, 2006).
Our hand hygiene reminder also helps patients in their own care and gives them the ability to know that everyone cleaned their hands when entering their room and thus decreasing the chance that they get an infection. "Patients who see the health care provider performing hand hygiene are reassured that everything is being done to protect them from unnecessary infections." (Public Health Ontario).
Why use hand sanitizer as a hand hygiene practice? Rationale of using Hand sanitizer The WHO as well as many governments have stated that hand rubbing with alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used instead of hand washing when the hands are not visibly soiled or have been in contact with human fluids and or secretions. The WHO
also documented that hand washing takes more time than hand-rubbing with hand sanitizer. Hand washing takes up to 1.5 minutes for the entire procedure and hand rubbing with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer takes 15 seconds. Due to the level of intensity and fast paced activity in a health care setting using a hand sanitizer is advantageous for staff to use when they can:
"To make it possible for health care providers to clean their hands at the right time, an alcohol - based hand rub must be provided at the point-of-care, where busy health care providers can clean their hands without leaving the patient" (WHO, 2006).
"It is necessary to understand the complexity of clinical and patient care. In an average day health care workers do a range of tasks. Some essential yet simple tasks like helping patients become comfortable in bed can result in thousands of microorganisms being transferred onto the hands of health care workers. Taking a pulse or blood pressure results in transfer of equally large numbers of microorganisms. A
quick squirt of alcohol-based hand rub and the process of rubbing this on the hands until they are dry will destroy almost all of these potentially harmful microorganisms in a short time (15-30 seconds). An absence of hand hygiene at this point would mean that whichever patient the health care worker touches next would receive these microorganisms if hand hygiene is not performed" (http://www.oahpp.ca/services/jcyh/faq.html).
At the same time when people from the community enter a setting they are also carrying with them organisms that can spread infection. Our device does not discriminate who is staff and who are visitors, attendees or guests thereby enforcing hand hygiene practices for everyone and thereby keeping everyone safer by decreasing the risk of fatal infection transmission and spread.
Applicable to Other settings and facilities We propose that our invention and patent is to be applied to any and all settings that require or ask for a hand sanitizer dispenser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The device will be an alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispenser with a motion sensor and an alarm built in. The motion sensor is activated once an individual walks past the sensor which then activates the alarm IF the person who walked past it does not dispense hand sanitizer within the preset time. For example it can be set at two seconds. If the individual does not dispense hand sanitizer from the dispenser within two seconds the audible alarm will be set off and continue. It will be a beeping sound. The alarm will be deactivated once the individual gets hand sanitizer from the dispenser. If the individual takes hand sanitizer from the dispenser before the time lag then the alarm will be deactivated in this way as well. This is NOT a hand hygiene monitoring or detection system. Its purpose is to remind everyone in the setting that hand hygiene should be practiced with the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and also to elicit behavior change of the staff working and the people visiting the setting. Our system is a transparent way of promoting hand hygiene practice without monitoring and detection and without punitive consequences. We propose this patent to be applied to any and all settings whereby hand sanitizers can and will be requested to be used.
Our hand hygiene reminder is for everyone, including all staff, patients and visitors.
The hand hygiene reminder system will be installed at entrance points or anywhere the setting or organization requests it to be place. It is versatile; it can be installed and placed in outdoor and indoor settings.
Inventors: Archna Patel and Antonia Colarossi Figures and diagrams will follow shortly
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2807337 CA2807337A1 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2013-02-22 | Hand hygiene reminder system |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2807337 CA2807337A1 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2013-02-22 | Hand hygiene reminder system |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2807337A1 true CA2807337A1 (en) | 2014-08-22 |
Family
ID=51386049
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2807337 Abandoned CA2807337A1 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2013-02-22 | Hand hygiene reminder system |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2807337A1 (en) |
Cited By (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016090469A1 (en) * | 2014-12-08 | 2016-06-16 | Dalhousie University | Hygiene enhancing dispenser |
| US10529219B2 (en) | 2017-11-10 | 2020-01-07 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Hand hygiene compliance monitoring |
| USRE48951E1 (en) | 2015-08-05 | 2022-03-01 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Hand hygiene compliance monitoring |
| US11272815B2 (en) | 2017-03-07 | 2022-03-15 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Monitoring modules for hand hygiene dispensers |
| US11284333B2 (en) | 2018-12-20 | 2022-03-22 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Adaptive route, bi-directional network communication |
-
2013
- 2013-02-22 CA CA 2807337 patent/CA2807337A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016090469A1 (en) * | 2014-12-08 | 2016-06-16 | Dalhousie University | Hygiene enhancing dispenser |
| USRE48951E1 (en) | 2015-08-05 | 2022-03-01 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Hand hygiene compliance monitoring |
| US11272815B2 (en) | 2017-03-07 | 2022-03-15 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Monitoring modules for hand hygiene dispensers |
| US11903537B2 (en) | 2017-03-07 | 2024-02-20 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Monitoring modules for hand hygiene dispensers |
| US10529219B2 (en) | 2017-11-10 | 2020-01-07 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Hand hygiene compliance monitoring |
| US11284333B2 (en) | 2018-12-20 | 2022-03-22 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Adaptive route, bi-directional network communication |
| US11711745B2 (en) | 2018-12-20 | 2023-07-25 | Ecolab Usa Inc. | Adaptive route, bi-directional network communication |
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