2020 Undergraduate Research Showcase
 

Title

Hand Hygiene in the Hospital Setting

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2020

Faculty Sponsor

Natalie Mourant and Dr. Catherine Masters

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper was to discover if there is a significant difference in bacteria on technologist hands when they sanitize them between patient exams. A broad consensus exists that hand washing is imperative to keep nosocomial infections low, but how many technologists actually follow the protocol of hand sanitation after each exam? Good hand hygiene practices of technologists are especially vital due to the high volume of patients from all areas of the hospital that come in to have procedures done in the radiology department. Although there have been studies conducted on hand hygiene in the past, many do not specifically focus their attention onto radiologic technologists. To conduct this research, a group of radiologic technologists in a medium sized hospital were asked to provide a sample swab of their hands after completing various x-ray exams within their department. Limitations in this research included the low number of technologists who were swabbed for this experiment due to the short time frame given to collect data. However, the evidence gathered suggests that if radiologic technologists follow hand sanitation guidelines than there will be a reduction in bacterial growth that could prove harmful to immunocompromised patients. It is hoped that this study will be a continuous reminder that the small act of hand hygiene is still important between each exam to eliminate the risk of disease for the patients entrusted to radiologic technologists for their imaging procedures.

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