Parker Using Latest Hospital Technology to Ensure Hand Hygiene on its Campuses
HIGHLAND PARK, NJ – February 28, 2021 – One group of long-term living communities is adapting cutting-edge technology previously used only in hospitals as a weapon in the fight against an invisible foe.
A newly-installed system that electronically monitors hand hygiene is being used as a high-tech way to bolster infection control in the Parker Health Group Inc.’s residential campuses in Piscataway, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Franklin and Monroe.
Beacons strategically placed throughout clinical areas work in concert with small badges worn by each of Parker’s elder care workers. The beacons alert staff when there is a hand hygiene opportunity, with badges providing visual reminders to wash hands or apply hand sanitizer.
Whether they are diligently going about their daily duties from suite to suite, care partners are given a helpful reminder that hand hygiene is a crucial step toward halting the spread of germs, viruses and other unseen adversaries.
And in the midst of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, it’s another way of reducing the possibility of cross-contamination.
“Every time they enter the room after a few seconds, if they don't do hand hygiene, the badge will start beeping,” explained Purvi Sheth, Parker at Somerset Director of Nursing. “If they continue not to address their hands, it will turn red. And then every time they walk out of the room, it does the same thing. It works the same if our workers cross over the threshold in a shared room from bed A to bed B.”
The electronic hand hygiene monitoring system, developed by Michigan-based BioVigil, was implemented in several hospitals since March 2020 when the first wave of COVID-19 hit much of the New York and New Jersey area. It was a way to remind busy workers eager to tend to their patients that they had to pause, wash their hands and then return to their duties. Hand washing – as well as mask wearing and social distancing – have been the trusted first lines of defense against the coronavirus.
Parker’s monitoring system offers quantitative data in the fight against cross-contamination because it provides data about which staff members haven’t been heeding the ever-present reminder to wash their hands and offers opportunities for coaching and education.
“Our care partners have been quick to adapt to the new technology,” said Sonam Naik, a Parker administrator. “I was really surprised at how quickly they’ve embraced the enhanced system. I think the care partners really want to make a difference. They really want to make sure that we’re moving forward with this pandemic. It has just been a matter of getting used to the technology and learning all the processes that come with it.”
It also didn’t take long for Parker’s elders to notice the badges. Naik noted than one elder even asked if she had permission to remind team members to wash their hands if she notices their badges turning red.
“When we talk to families about the product, they’re very impressed,” Naik said. “They’re so impressed by the fact that we're really taking this seriously, ensuring their loved ones are safe, as well as ourselves. That is our constant, pressing goal, now, and for the future.”
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