Every staff member—from physician leaders to student nurses—shares the same rallying cry at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, WA. The phrase can often be heard reverberating throughout the hallways as they remind each other of their common objective: "Gel in, gel out." Their goal? Infection control.
The hospital's internal communications team has navigated many avenues to educate hospital staff members about the importance of hand hygiene. It has promoted hand washing in daily print and online publications, handed out flyers, posted hygiene compliance rates, suggested talking points to unit managers, and distributed stickers. And if all that doesn't work, the CEO personally gives offending units a call.
MultiCare began its current hand washing campaign in 2005 when the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) launched a statewide hygiene effort. Since the program's implementation, MultiCare's hand hygiene percentages have jumped from about 40% to more than 90%. The hospital has won the WSHA "Best Hands on Care" award for two years running.
Tamyra Howser, internal communications manager, attributes the campaign's success to the teamwork between her staff and infection prevention and control.
"We knew it was an important initiative, so we worked directly with [the] infection control and quality [departments] to make sure this message was spread throughout the system," Howser says.
Another element contributing to the hospital's hand hygiene success is the visibility of the infection control staff, says Marcia Patrick, director of infection prevention and control.
"They're out there, they're engaged, they're very visible to the staff, and I think that makes a huge difference," Patrick says. "It's just that constant focus that people know that we're watching. People know that we are concerned about this, and the other big thing is getting people to understand that patients expect this."
By practicing interdepartmental teamwork and promoting marketing materials alongside internal communication techniques, MultiCare's staff hand washing practices began to transform.
One of the nurse managers began reminding her staff members to sanitize their hands with a saying that would soon become the hospital's hygiene catchphrase: "Gel in, gel out."
Once the internal communications team realized how strongly the motto was resonating with staff members, it began installing new sanitizing gel stations with "gel in, gel out" labels, says Howser.
"It didn't take a lot for it to catch on with the clinicians that this is important," she says. "The CEO wants it, and also we know this is the best care for our patients."
"Like anything, change is difficult," Patrick says. "But when you can post their graph with staff compliance for the most recent month, it gets people's attention. It may even be subliminal messaging. They see the lines going down and then think, ‘I better buff this up a little.' "
Marianne Aiello is an editor with HealthLeaders Media. She may be reached at maiello@healthleadersmedia.com.