(Image Source: MSN)

BY KIM ST. ONGE

Imagine going to the hospital for surgery and the surgeon “forgets” to wash his hands... and no one notices. A new study suggests this scary thought might not be too far-fetched. WCBS explains.

“They’re everywhere...video surveillance cameras record crimes in progress, traffic stops and accidents, red light violators and now hand-washing? Yep, the latest tool to get health care workers to practice good hand hygiene.”

Researcher Dr. Bruce Farber decided to put his North Shore University Hospital staffers to the test to see just how much they wash up.

Here’s how it works: Doctors are given 10 seconds to wash up when they enter and leave a room.

A blinking red light tells them the shot has been recorded so hospital management can see how much staffers are scrubbing.

WNBC reports hand-washing compliance has risen nearly 90%.

“The system cuts down on infections. It's the number one killer in hospitals around the world."

Before cameras were installed, the hospital had secret nurses or doctors keep track of staffers’ hand-washing. Dr. Farber says only relying on first-hand observations led to a lot of poor hygiene practices going unnoticed.

“The pre-study internal hospital-based hand hygiene rates, which were collected by direct observation methods, were approximately 60%, far higher than the less than 10% hand hygiene rates recorded in the prefeedback period of this study.”

According to doctors, germs can stay on surfaces for weeks. To that--WXIX says...yuck!

“The main way of doing that with any hospital is washing our hands. That's very important because the hands touch the patient, they touch the surfaces the most.” 

“This is just gross to think about. I mean, honestly it is, but once again, the importance of hand washing especially in a medical environment, we can't stress it enough”

The hospital says the cameras have prompted more family members to use hand sanitizers when they visit family members.