No handwashing equals fines?

I live in southwestern PA and there was an article in the newspaper regarding one of the local health systems initiating fines for employess not washing hands. The physicians will be fined $1,000 and employees would be sent home without pay. I do not work in this health system and my system has not yet had to "crack down" on this issue. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what impact has it had? Does it work? Thank you in advance for your response!!
I don't know how they could prove that there was no handwashing, unless they start installing video cams in every part of a facility....which I wouldn't put past them. Where has basic common sense gone?

Wow, I think one impact would be to destroy morale. Do they have an army of agency nurses standing by to replace the ones they send home? That seems an extreme idea that I'm sure won't work. How are they monitoring this? Talk about a negative management style, yikes.

hmm interesting... I used to work in South Western PA. What hospital system is doing this?

Seems a bit extreme- there's no doubt that handwashing is very important, but jeez... seems like the money spent on this initiative could be put towards something else

Not all handwashing is equal. For instance, a surgeon must do a 3-minute wet scrub at least once a day (when operating), but can do a dry scrub afterwards. In neurosurgery wet and dry is required before every surgery. Obviously, it would be silly to expect a 5-10minute ordeal before and after any patient contact, but we all know there are those out there who do the 0.5 second "rinse" and call it good enough.I just think it is silly to expect everyone to comply to an ill-defined "standard" which may or may not be relevant to their practice.

I might purposefully not wash my hands on my weekend....since were not allowed to take our weekend off.

How will they know? Cameras aimed at the sinks in every patient's room? That would open up the privacy worm can. How about patient's or family members reporting staff not doing proper hand washing? Oops, don't even want to go there. Wait, I've got it. They hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol. Maybe even contract the jobs out. Their sole purpose will be hide behind file cabinets, linen carts, in closets, and under patients beds to catch the miscreants. Shucks, that way they can take all those pesky funds that could be used to hire more nurses and put them to good use.:icon_roll

Quote from belgarionHow will they know? Cameras aimed at the sinks in every patient's room? That would open up the privacy worm can. How about patient's or family members reporting staff not doing proper hand washing? Oops, don't even want to go there. Wait, I've got it. They hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol. Maybe even contract the jobs out. Their sole purpose will be hide behind file cabinets, linen carts, in closets, and under patients beds to catch the miscreants. Shucks, that way they can take all those pesky funds that could be used to hire more nurses and put them to good use.:icon_roll

Quote from belgarionThey hire a whole bunch of ancilliary staff to be the hand washing patrol.

per nrskarenrn, co-administrator:upmc threatens to fine employeesupmc threatens to fine employeesas infections rise, workers could be fined for not washing handswednesday, february 02, 2011by pohla smith, pittsburgh post-gazettean unexpected rise in infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria at upmc presbyterian has prompted officials to threaten disciplinary action against doctors and staff at the hospital who don't wash their hands or follow other infection control guidelines...at presby, administrators said they will levy $1,000 fines against doctors -- $250 for residents and fellows -- and send other workers home for a day without paywho ignore "education" by around-the-clock staff monitoring areas where the infected patients are confined.this is a pilot program that's part of a broader initiative to bring individual accountability into the sprawling health system...

From the article:The last time UPMC had an outbreak of this particular bacteria was in 2006, when seven cases were documented. At that time, administrators tightened procedures and improved education about proper hygiene procedures, but imposed no fines. "We completely stopped transmission of that organism," Dr. Muto said.

Quote from siriper nrskarenrn, co-administrator:upmc threatens to fine employeeshttp://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11033/1122252-114.stm