The department is responsible for guaranteeing the operating procedures for hygiene at the Clinical Center. Based on a pre-arranged schedule, it completes hygiene-related site inspections at the different organizational units. It operates the Central Sterilizer, issues and updates the Disinfection Guidelines. It supervises disinfecting cleaning and washing, catering for patients and staff, as well as insect and rodent control.
It performs nosocomial infection surveillance at the intensive care units of the Clinical Center, continuously monitors multi-drug resistant pathogens and infections caused by Clostridium difficile associated with the use of antibiotics. It provides on-site advising and supervision in connection with the isolation of infectious patients. In the case of multiple infections, it initiates an epidemiological investigation.
Hand hygiene is of primary importance as the most important infection control method for avoiding the transfer of nosocomial infections is hand disinfection. The department monitors the use of hand sanitizers and uses posters to improve the compliance of staff with hand hygiene rules. Hand hygiene compliance is measured annually by means of direct observation.
Since 2008 there is an obligatory infection control training for new employees, including the teaching of hand hygiene and its testing with the fluorescein probe. We published an e-learning material for improving the knowledge of staff and students about hand hygiene. You can download the e-book here.