After the intense focus on hand hygiene last year, Infection Prevention Control Unit members fear the community has become complacent.

After noticing that visitors to hospital had become "less vigilant with their hand hygiene", unit nurse manager Fiona De Sousa said her team wanted to use World Hand Hygiene Day to remind all visitors to follow this year's theme Enter Our Door: Do the 4.

Referring to the following hygiene steps by sanitising:

And it is not just COVID-19 that Ms De Sousa is concerned about.

"COVID is part of it but it's all sorts of infections that we don't want people to share with our patients in hospital or to pick up themselves," she said.

Ms De Sousa said as part of Launceston General Hospitals' learnings from COVID-19, two new nurse educator positions had been created within the Infection Prevention Control Unit.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The new full-time positions service both the LGH and the wider North-West community ensuring that every hospital and health centre in the region has access to world-class infection prevention and control.

This year's World Hand Hygiene Day serves as a timely reminder to ensure we are looking after the most vulnerable members of our community when visiting hospitals or other medical facilities by practicing hand hygiene.

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