The winners of the 2014 schülke hand hygiene champion awards were announced at the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) conference in Glasgow on 30 September. There were two joint winners — Mitch Clarke (Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham) and Claire Scott, (manager of the medical assessment unit, Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool) — who received exactly the same scores from the judges. The awards were presented by Julie Storr, the outgoing IPS president, on the 19schülke exhibition stand.
Hand hygiene is a term used to describe the removal of microorganisms from the hands using soap or a cleansing solution and water (hand washing), or a waterless antimicrobial agent (hand rubbing) (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE], 2013; World Health Organization [WHO], 2013).
Claire Kilpatrick discusses why MRSA is such a political 'hot potato' and outlines some of the issues both community and acute setting practitioners may wish to conside'.
Claire Kilpatrick RN, PG Dip, ICN, MSc is Nurse Consultant Infection Control, Health Protection, Scotland.
Article accepted for publication: December 2005
Deborah Ward gives an overview of hand hygiene practices in the community.
Deborah Ward MA, BSc (Hons), RGN is an Infection Control Nurse Specialist, bpas.
Article accepted for publication: May 2006
