We place patients on contact precautions.
We help to lower the number of cases of C. difficile infection within the hospital by placing patients on contact precautions, for their health, the health of our staff and the health of our community.
We promote hand hygiene.
Since C. difficile is mostly spread through hand contact, we promote best practices for handwashing and hand hygiene. All nursing staff must complete Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) learning modules on hand hygiene. The MOHLTC also has a program called Just Clean Your Hands which we actively promote at York Central Hospital.
We pay close attention to patients with diarrhea.
All patients with diarrhea are placed on contact precautions as soon as possible, to prevent the spread of the bacteria, and are tested promptly for C. difficile.
We clean rooms twice per day.
York Central Hospital works hard to manage the spread of C. difficile-associated diarrhea. Our staff conduct twice-daily room cleaning for patients who are on contact precautions. We also pay special attention to items that were worn by our staff while in the patient’s room and equipment used in that environment. Our cleaning staff are well-trained and are dedicated to keeping our hospital clean and safe for our patients.
We have increased the number of handwashing stations.
Hand sanitizer dispensers are placed in the main lobbies and in the halls on patient floors throughout the hospital. This increases the number of opportunities for our staff to practice hand hygiene.
We educate our staff.
York Central Hospital offers ongoing sessions on C. difficile, hand hygiene and infection control practices in our hospital. We also promote best practices regarding handwashing routines and we post brochures, leaflets and reminders throughout the hospital.
We have an active Infection Control committee.
Our infection control professionals monitor C. difficile rates to promote hand hygiene to promote effective infection control practices that adhere to provincial, national and international best practice recommendations.
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