Videos Go 'Viral' in Fight Against HAIs

"C'mon and hit me with your flu shot," one group sings. Other videos feature songs whose names resemble their titles, "Do the ICU-2, DMC" (from Detroit Medical Center), "I Watch the Line," " I'm Gonna Wash My Hands," from Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, CA, or "Pump It," another submittal from Paradise Valley.

Everybody seems to get in on the action, no matter their job stature or pay grade, with some videos featuring as many as 30 to 40 members of the hospitals' teams. Some call themselves catchy (get it?) names such as "The Spore Chasers," or "The Virals and a Host of Others."

"We have a number of talented employees who could sing, do video work, dance – and a lot of our employees are just hams in front of the camera!" said Ben Macapugay, Jr., of Paradise Valley. "Once we put all of those ingredients together and got the ball rolling, it took on a life of its own."

Videos were submitted by teams from Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, TN; Broward Health in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Medical Center of Arlington, TX and St. Louis University Hospital in MO, just to name a few.

Contest organizer Vickie Brown, Associate Director of Hospital Epidemiology for University of North Carolina Health Care in Chapel Hill, said the videos are intended to "brings the message in at an emotional human level, one that lets providers connect with a particular story in a way they may not if we just tell them about compliance." On that score, she said, they were a success.