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Friday, 19 April 2024

Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:48

BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk

Clean uniforms to beat MRSA

Nurses have identified dirty uniforms as key culprits in the fight against MRSA and other hospital acquired infections, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said yesterday.

At the launch of its “Wipe it Out” campaign, the RCN revealed a ten-point plan to fight superbugs. It calls for every nurse to be provided with a clean uniform for every shift and improvements to hospital changing rooms and laundry facilities.

It also demands 24-hour cleaning teams and a system whereby staff can confidentially report those who do not wash their hands.

Less than half of NHS trusts provide nurses with enough uniforms to change for every shift, according to a survey in the Nursing Standard.

RCN secretary Beverly Malone said that to give every nurse one new uniform would require the health service to supply a minimum of 400,000 extra outfits. This would cost around £5 million.

Research has shown that uniforms are particularly prone to picking up infections, especially around the cuffs, pockets and aprons.

Washing at a high temperature kills infections but two thirds of the hospitals surveyed did not provide laundry facilities while 91 per cent of nurses said they were given inadequate instructions about how to wash there own uniforms.

Furthermore, only a quarter of hospitals provided suitable changing facilities forcing nurses to change in the ward lavatories or wear their uniforms on the way to and from work, increasing the chances of picking up infections.

Writing in the Nursing Standard, Editor Jean Gray said: “Nurses are often blamed for bad practices, such as wearing their uniforms in public, yet they do not have enough uniforms, laundries or changing facilities to take the necessary precautions”.

The “Wipe it Out” campaign, jointly run by the RCN, Evening Standard and Kimberely-Clark - the hygiene products manufacturer, also calls for infection control training for both new staff and undergraduates.