Prince of Wales Hospital staff make a song and dance about hand hygiene

The Dietetics Department at Prince of Wales Hospital proved their expertise goes beyond food and nutrition, taking out the top prize for the ‘Bare Below the Elbows’ video competition.
 
Inspired by 90s hip-hop artist Sir Mix-A-Lot, staff from the department word-smithed their own lyrics, encouraging health workers to practice good hand hygiene by keeping their hands, wrists and forearms bare.
 
Coordinated by the Prince of Wales Hospital Hand Hygiene Working Group, the competition called for videos to raise awareness about why being ‘Bare Below the Elbows’ is essential in daily clinical work.
 
Karen Tuqiri, Director of Nursing, Prince of Wales Hospital, said the effectiveness of hand hygiene is improved when the skin is intact, nails are short with no nail polish or nail enhancements, hands and forearms are free of jewellery and sleeves are short. 
 
“I’d like to thank everyone who took part in creating videos and flyers for the campaign, as well as to staff who watched the entries and voted for their favourite. Nearly 700 votes were cast, which demonstrates fantastic engagement across the hospital with an important topic.
 
“We were so impressed with the effort, good humour, ingenuity and engagement in this campaign, and are hopeful it creates momentum to embed the ‘Bare Below the Elbows’ message into daily practice in all clinical areas,” Ms Tuqiri said.
 
The competition entries were launched at the Prince of Wales Hospital virtual staff forum held last month. Eight entries were received, from departments including Physiotherapy, Emergency, Outpatients, Ambulatory Care Unit and Patient Discharge Lounge and Speech Pathology, as well Professor Michael Friedlander and medical students.
 
Voting was open for four days via interactive platform slido.com, with the top contender changing throughout. It was a fierce race to the finish line, with the Physiotherapy Department coming in as a close second when the final tally was counted. 
 
The competition winners received a hamper donated by the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation filled with goodies to share.
 
Pictured: The winning team Prince of Wales Hospital’s Dietetics Department.

The winning team – Prince of Wales Hospital’s Dietetics Department