World Health Organization: Your 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene. Haemodialysis in ambulatory care.

My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene is essential for patient safety, and reminders are key! The World Health Organization’s “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” posters are customized to fit your work environment.

These new posters offer tailored guidance to fit different settings. Whether you’re working with patients in outpatient clinics or managing complex procedures in hemodialysis, these posters highlight the critical moments to clean your hands: before patient contact, before a clean procedure, after exposure to body fluids, after patient contact, and after touching patient surroundings.

Ways to Use This Resource

Update your orientation and trainings with the “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” poster that best matches your work environment.
Post education posters (with a wipeable surface) in spaces where staff do hand hygiene.

Target Audience: Essential IPC education level

Guidance & Regulation Updates

VIPTA members track guidance and regulation resources to share source documents that guide infection prevention and control practices for public health staff and clinical and non-clinical healthcare personnel.

The date of the regulation or guidance update is included in each post. Please check linked content to be sure it is the most up to date and recommended practice.

Virginia Department of Health Clinician Letter – Communicable Disease Updates (8/26/24)   

VDH

Any Practice Setting

Emergency Preparedness & Operations

Standard Precautions

Surveillance

Transmission-Based Precautions

Vaccination

Updates and recommendations for healthcare providers on pertussis, avian influenza A(H5N1), invasive Group A Streptococcus, and mpox in Virginia.

CDC Health Alert Network (HAN): Mpox Caused by Human-to-Human Transmission of Monkeypox Virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with Spread to Neighboring Countries (8/7/2024)

CDC

Any Practice Setting

Surveillance

CDC issued a HAN Health Update to provide additional information about the outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) in the DRC.

CDC Update to Infection Prevention and Control of Mpox in Healthcare Settings (8/2/2024)

CDC

Any Practice Setting

Auditing / Observation / Monitoring / Assessment Tools

Emergency Preparedness & Operations

Employee/Occupational Health

Guidance updates include: Revising scenarios to apply to healthcare personnel or patients who experience exposure to mpox virus in a healthcare setting and adjusting risk categories based on current evidence.

CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Hospital Respiratory Data (8/1/2024)

CDC

Acute Care Hospital

Department of Health

Surveillance

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is updating the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program to require acute care hospitals and critical access hospitals to electronically report information via NHSN about COVID-19, influenza, and RSV beginning November 1, 2024. This reported information will help provide situational awareness of the impact of these respiratory diseases. 

Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Facility Code, 2026 Edition (draft)

Any Practice Setting

Construction

Documents for the design and construction of hospitals, outpatient facilities, and residential health, care, and support facilities are open for public comment until September 30, 2024 Interested professionals in the healthcare and long-term care industries (including infection preventionists) are encouraged to review and contribute comments on the draft documents

Image of educational posters and learning areas.

Virginia Long-Term Care Infrastructure Pilot Project (VLIPP)

Carilion Clinic’s Virginia Long-Term Care Infrastructure Pilot Project (VLIPP) is a grant-funded program focused on improving infection prevention and control practices within local long-term care (LTC) facilities. The team has been working on various projects since the program’s launch, collaborating with LTC facilities across the Southwest Region. A keystone of the project is staff education on setting-specific infection prevention and control practices. The team provides education in fun and engaging ways including escape rooms and simulated training that incorporates real-life scenarios. The program also hosts a quarterly “Staying in the Know” webinar series aimed at providing updates and guidance on current infection prevention and control issues. Visit Carilion Clinic Infection Prevention and Control for additional information about Carilion Clinic VLIPP.

In addition to education, training, and onsite technical support, a peer-to-peer network has been launched for LTC facility infection preventionists (IPs). The network’s goal is to create a safe space for LTC IPs to connect, share resources and perspectives, and support one another. The network provides an avenue for IPs to talk about IP challenges in the facility, problem solve, and promote mentorship relationships between the IPs. The inspiration for the network arose from feedback received from facility IPs. Interest in knowing how other IPs practice in the LTC setting and navigate their roles and responsibilities was identified as a recurring theme.

The successful launch of the peer-to-peer network demonstrates the devotion of the LTC IPs to the work they do. The Carilion Clinic VLIPP team is excited to see a positive response to the network. LTC IPs in Virginia are welcome to join the network. For additional information about joining, reach out to either of the Carilion Clinic VLIPP infection preventionists listed below.

Steve Carter – stcarter@carilionclinic.org

Matthew Skinner – mrskinner@carilionclinic.org