Beyond Hand Hygiene: Tackling the Continued Risk of HAIs

HAIs in Today's Healthcare Environment

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) have long been a critical challenge for healthcare organizations, but the COVID-19 pandemic intensified this issue significantly. While recent HAI rates have declined since their pandemic-era peak, the risk is far from gone. HAIs remain a persistent challenge, especially as healthcare systems transition out of cold and flu season.

According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 31 patients contracts a HAI each day—an issue that demands continued attention from healthcare leaders, clinical staff, patients, and policymakers alike.

Why HAIs Remain a Concern

Several factors continue to make infection prevention challenging:

• Staffing shortages across healthcare organizations have strained infection prevention resources
• Diverted attention during the height of the pandemic led to some best practices being temporarily deprioritized
• Departmental silos continue to prevent coordinated infection prevention approaches
• Technology proliferation has created new infection vectors through shared devices and equipment
• Workflow challenges make consistent cleaning and disinfection protocols difficult to maintain

These ongoing challenges reinforce the need for a more comprehensive, sustained approach to infection prevention—one that goes beyond traditional hand hygiene.

Multi-Faceted Prevention: Beyond Hand Hygiene

While hand hygiene has been the cornerstone of infection prevention for decades, experts now recognize that a more comprehensive approach is needed. Modern prevention strategies must address multiple vectors of cross-contamination:

The Hand-Device Connection

Research has established a direct correlation between hand cleanliness and device contamination. Many healthcare facilities invest significantly in hand hygiene programs but overlook the critical role that shared devices play in pathogen transmission. 

“A clean hand that touches a dirty device becomes a dirty hand.”  

-Brad Whitchurch, Founder and CEO of Seal Shield

Mobile devices, keyboards, mice, and medical equipment can harbor pathogens for hours or even days, creating a continuous cycle of contamination despite proper hand washing. This underscores the need for healthcare organizations to rethink how they manage the very devices that travel between clinical spaces.

Mobile Device Management

Healthcare professionals rely heavily on mobile devices throughout their workday. These devices move between patient rooms, nursing stations, and other clinical areas, creating ample opportunity for cross-contamination. Traditional "wipe-down" approaches have proven inconsistent and often impractical in busy clinical environments.

“Even if you have clinical staff that's fully trained and wiping down their devices, you still need a dwell time or contact time for that to take effect.”  

-Al Messer, Northeast Territory Manager at Seal Shield

Asking clinicians to leave devices idle for several minutes during disinfection can be challenging. In fast-paced settings like emergency departments, waiting for disinfection isn't always feasible, making cross-contamination more likely.

Innovative Technological Solutions

Forward-thinking healthcare organizations are implementing newer technologies to enhance infection prevention efforts:

• Washable electronics (keyboards, mice, and other input devices) that can be thoroughly disinfected
• UV disinfection technology for mobile devices that achieves more complete pathogen elimination
• Antimicrobial materials for high-touch surfaces to reduce bioburden between cleanings
• Monitoring systems that can track hand hygiene compliance and device disinfection

These innovations can address the workflow challenges and hand-device contamination cycle by offering more reliable, consistent disinfection without adding to clinicians' workload.

A Collaborative Approach

The complexity of modern healthcare environments demands a coordinated effort across all stakeholders to combat HAIs effectively. While organizations can break down traditional barriers between departments and educate patients to aid in infection prevention, further measures for prevention may require legislative action. 

Breaking Down Department Silos

One encouraging development post-pandemic has been increased cross-departmental collaboration around infection prevention. Organizations are bringing together IT departments, nursing units, clinical informatics teams, and infection preventionists to develop integrated strategies.

This collaborative approach helps ensure that technology decisions incorporate infection prevention considerations from the start, rather than as an afterthought. By aligning priorities across departments, healthcare organizations can implement more effective and sustainable prevention practices.

The Patient's Role in Prevention

While hospitals and clinical teams play a major role in infection prevention, patients and their families are also key partners in this effort by:

• Being aware of surroundings and common touch points in healthcare facilities
• Observing whether staff are following proper protocols for hand hygiene and device cleaning
• Advocating for themselves and loved ones by asking questions about infection prevention practices
• Researching hospital safety ratings before scheduled procedures, as patients are 90% more likely to die in a Leapfrog-rated D or F facility versus an A-rated hospital

Simple explanations of common infection vectors and preventive measures can significantly improve compliance with protocols both during hospital stays and after discharge.

Perhaps most importantly, patients and families should feel comfortable speaking up about their concerns. Creating a culture where patients are encouraged to ask whether providers have washed their hands or cleaned their devices doesn't just protect individual patients—it reinforces a facility-wide commitment to infection prevention excellence.

The Need for Systemic Change

Healthcare organizations and patient efforts can make significant improvements in infection prevention, but long-term progress will be strengthened through policy support and sustained investment in prevention efforts. Legislative action and increased funding specifically targeting HAI reduction could accelerate progress nationwide.

By establishing clearer standards and providing the necessary resources, policymakers can help healthcare organizations implement more robust prevention programs without sacrificing other essential services.

Prevention is a Shared Responsibility

Reducing HAIs requires commitment from everyone involved in the healthcare ecosystem—from hospital leadership and clinical staff to technology providers, patients, and policymakers. While the pandemic created significant challenges, it has also heightened awareness of infection risks and created new opportunities for innovation and collaboration.

By investing in comprehensive prevention strategies, implementing new technologies, and fostering cross-departmental cooperation, healthcare organizations can build on recent progress and continue driving down infection rates—creating safer environments for all patients.

To hear more expert insights on this topic, listen to our related podcast episode, where they discuss the challenges and solutions around hospital-acquired infections in today's healthcare environment.