16 March, 2010 |

MRSA and Clothing

From the CDC Health Law news....

J.

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Last week, the United Kingdom’s Department of Health issued a guidance document advising National Health Service (NHS) hospitals to amend their dress codes for healthcare providers to limit the spread of hospital acquired infections, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile. The guidance document explains the legal framework for the recommendations and refers to literature reviews conducted by Thames Valley University, documenting evidence “around the role of uniforms in the transfer or infections.” Empirical evidence regarding the decontamination of uniforms was also collected.



Based on the literature reviews and the empirical evidence, the guidance offers both good and poor practice examples. For example, the guidance recommends that patient care providers wear short-sleeved shirts because the cuffs of long sleeves, which are likely to come into contact with patients, can become heavily contaminated with pathogens. The guidance recommends against wearing false nails, which can also “harbor micro-organisms and can reduce compliance with hand hygiene.”



According to Health Secretary Alan Johnson, all hospitals “are expected to go ‘bare below the elbows’ by January 2008.” See http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=314953&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False for a press release from Secretary Johnson.



Visit http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/DH_078435.pdf to read the text of Uniforms and Workwear: An evidence base for developing local policy.

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