UNAIR NEWS – The Center of Excellence for Patient Safety and Quality at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR PRKP) organized an Infection Prevention and Control Training for Nursing Students. It was a part of the Visiting Researcher Programme at the Shared Lecture Building, MERR-C Campus, on Thursday, Jan 18, 2024. 

In this training, a lecturer from STIKES, Kepanjen Malang Ns Annisa Rahmi Galleryzki SKep Mkep became the speaker. She explained that the level of infection spread in hospitals is quite high. She mentioned Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). 

“HAIs are infections experienced by patients during hospital or healthcare facility care and are not symptoms of the disease. For example, during COVID, initially, the patient only had symptoms, but after two days in the hospital, the swab result was positive,” she clarified.

The Importance of hand hygiene 

To prevent the transmission of infections, Ns Annisa discussed the importance of maintaining hand hygiene. She emphasized the need to always maintain hand cleanliness as regulated by procedures, not just washing hands randomly.

Next, Ns Annisa explained the handwashing procedure at each Five Moments. These moments include the first moment before contact with the patient, the second moment before asepsis, the third moment after exposure to the patient’s body fluids, the fourth moment after contact with the patient, and the fifth moment after contact with the patient’s surroundings. 

“Maintaining hand hygiene must consider the duration as well. If washing hands with liquid soap (handwash), the duration is 40-60 seconds. If using antiseptic (Handrub), it takes 20-30 seconds,” she said. 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 

In preventing the transmission and spread of infections, Ns Annisa also emphasized the importance of using PPE. PPE is a set of tools as a barrier against substances, solid particles, liquids, or air to protect users from the spread of infection and disease.

Ns Annisa reminded the participants that in using PPE, hand hygiene must be prioritized. “When removing PPE, every time after removing one type of PPE, don’t forget to perform hand rub or wash your hands,” she stated. 

Author: Tsaqifa Farhana Walidaini

Editor: Nuri Hermawan