By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 16 Oct: Hand hygiene is an important and effective measure to reduce hospital acquired infections in hospital care settings. To increase awareness about the same, celebration of Global Handwashing Day with theme ‘United for safety, clean your hands’ was held on 15 October at Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, under aegis of Department of Microbiology and Hospital Infection Control Committee of the hospital.
An overview of infection control measures taken by healthcare workers in order to reduce the incidence of healthcare acquired infections, regarding which a hand hygiene audit report of the previous year was presented by the infection control officer of institute, Dr Iva Chandola.
A dance was presented by MBBS students of the institute in order to increase awareness about hand hygiene procedure. Another very important aspect to know about hand hygiene is when, how and how long to perform hand hygiene in hospital care settings.
To elaborate further on the scientific aspects, a talk was delivered by the Head of Department of Microbiology, Dr Sulekha Nautiyal. The two most common methods i.e. hand washing and hand rub, their steps and duration for each was elaborated in detail. A skit was performed by the infection control team on awareness of hand hygiene. Based on the previous year’s infection control related audits, In-charges of various wards and ICUs and nursing staff were given Certificates of Appreciation to acknowledge their tremendous efforts in the field of infection control practices.
To keep the general public involved in the programme, leaflets were distributed to the attendants of patients who play a pivotal role in patient care apart from the healthcare workers. The programme came to end by signing a pledge to follow the appropriate hand hygiene measures in the right manner. More than 100 doctors, medical students, nursing staff and nursing students participated.
Among those present included Dr Rajeev Acharya, Vice Principal, SGRRIM&HS, and Professor, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Dr Puneet Ohri, Vice Principal, SGRRIM&HS and Professor & Head, Department of Community Medicine, Dr Gaurav Raturi, Deputy Medical Superintendent, Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, Dr RK Verma, Professor, Surgery, and Chairperson, Hospital Infection Control Committee, Dr Megha Luthra, Professor, Community Medicine, Dr Ranjana Rohilla, Dr Malvika Singh, Dr Himanshu Narula and Dr Kritiza Pandey.
