Don’t Be a Sally Shortcut

Image Credit: The Leadgenix Blog

One of my Clinical Level IV’s often has a “safety tip” at the end of her emails. One that caught my eye and that I really like is “Culture is what we do when no one is watching.” Well isn’t that one of those things that makes you go “hmmm?” Are you really scrubbing your hubs for a whole 15 seconds and then letting them dry for a whole 15 seconds even though your preceptor is no longer breathing down your neck and your patient’s ever-vigilant mother is taking a much needed nap? Are you performing hand hygiene in every one of what WHO in their Hand Hygiene: Why, How & When? refers to as “Your 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene?”—even if that means Purelling your way into your next patient’s room even though you know you just Purelled your way out of the last patient’s room less that 15 seconds ago? I do—and I have the impaired skin integrity to prove it.

So in the words of Beverly Sills, “there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” Especially if they can lead to nasty healthcare-associated infections such as the “Big Four” (bloodstream, surgical site, and urinary tract infections, and pneumonia). HAI-free is the way to be…

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