The HSE/South East Community Healthcare’s Aidan’s Psychiatry of Later Life Unit in the Waterford Residential Care Centre has joined in the implementation of the national “RESIST” hand hygiene campaign.
RESIST is a brand for a number of hand hygiene and infection prevention and control initiatives under the HSE Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control programme (AMRIC).
One of these initiatives is a rollout of the RESIST hand hygiene awareness programme. The programme promotes a combination of hand hygiene training with standardised national training materials. Hand hygiene has been at the forefront of all of the initiatives that the HSE has been implementing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The RESIST campaign is to refresh our hand hygiene messages and to keep promoting the importance of clean hands.
The HSE South East Community Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Nursing Team organised and promoted a RESIST Day at Aidan’s, with three Infection Prevention and Control Clinical (IPC) Nurse Specialists in attendance on the day to support and educate staff on Hand Hygiene and promote AMRIC and RESIST. Staff members participated in the RESIST rollout on the Day, including nurses, student nurses, clinical placement coordinator, household/hygiene staff, administration/allocations staff and occupational therapists among others.There were spot prizes, quizzes and promotional “goodies” given to staff on the day and there was a lovely atmosphere and “buzz” about the Unit.
Aidan’s Unit is a new purpose built 20 bed Mental Health facility on the grounds of Waterford Residential Care Centre (adjacent to the St. Patrick’s Hospital building, St. Patricks Way in Waterford. It specialises in Psychiatry of Later Life, providing care to residents with dementia. The RESIST campaign there is being supported by the Assistant Director of Nursing Joan Croke Power and Aidan’s own trained Infection Prevention and Control Link Practitioner Lianne Kiely.
Speaking at the RESIST day in Aidan’s, Assistant Director of Nursing Joan Croke Power said:
“Cleaning your hands properly, at the correct time, when delivering care to our residents, is the most effective way to stop the spread of many infections including COVID-19 and Influenza. When healthcare workers like doctors, nurses and carers, keep their hands clean, they help prevent the spread of serious healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). These are infections that can happen in any healthcare service. The RESIST day brings the AMRIC educational modules and Infection Prevention and Control training to the forefront of the service, with a positive result for all.”
“Aidan’s Unit has an excellent record in hand hygiene but we are always looking to improve our standards. The RESIST programme will help us to do that and we are delighted to have been selected to be part of the rollout in HSE Mental Health facilities and look forward to future hand hygiene promotional days in 2025.”
Joining Joan, Lianne and all the team who attended Aidan’s for the launch in Waterford, Aimee Dever (Infection Control Specialist/Waterford, HSE) said:
“Staff, residents, and visitors all have a role to play, to help stop the spread of Healthcare Associated Infections and join the superbug resistance. This programme will help each facility it is rolled out in, to refresh and energise its hand hygiene approach and our Link Practitioner and Infection Control Nurses will be supporting them to do that”.
Last updated on: 02 / 09 / 2024
