Cashel Residential Older Person Service taking lead in a new national hand hygiene programme

Cashel Residential Older Person Service recently joined in 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. 

We are now looking to rollout Resist to refresh our hand hygiene messages and to keep promoting the importance of clean hands.

Cashel Residential Older Person Service (CROPS)  Director of Nursing Denise Flynn says:

“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.  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. CROPS has a good 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 residential services.”

“Along with hospital staff, residents and visitors all have a role to play to help stop the spread of Healthcare associated infections and join the superbug resistance. Residents can play a big part in reducing the spread of infection.

“This programme will help us to refresh and energise our hand hygiene approach among both staff of the hospital and patients. The Link Practitioners, our Hand Hygiene Trainers and our Infection Control Nurses, help us to do this”.

Also speaking at the launch, Michelle Hennebry (Infection Control Nurse Specialist South Tipperary) added:

“As a programme, RESIST is not just aimed at those delivering care, but at everyone who comes into a hospital or residential care facility, including patients/residents and visitors. We will be intensifying the campaign across the South East over the coming months and are delighted that CROPS has today taken part in promoting such an important programme.”

“The SECH IPC Team are always looking to improve our Infection Control standards. The RESIST programme and Link Practitioners Programme are two ways we can do this at local and hospital level.”

Michelle added that she wished to particularly thank CROPS two link practitioners; Mariann Slattery and Jodie Gayson and management’s assistance from Denise Flynn Director of Nursing (DoN), Sheila O’ Dwyer Asst. DoN and Ailish Lonergan Asst. DoN, who highlighted the event to all areas within and around the campus. There was a large turn out and participation from all staff disciplines within CROPS.