A nurse hologram is being used by Dublin's Tallaght Hospital to remind visitors about the importance of hand hygiene.

Visitors to the hospital can expect to receive a unique greeting from the hologram, which is based on an existing staff nurse, Helen Corrigan.

The move is part of a new awareness initiative launched by the hospital with the theme ‘clean hands - save lives'. As well as the hologram, it includes a new uniform policy based on a ‘sleeves up' approach, as well as improved information materials for visitors.

The initiative was launched on Infection Control Awareness Day (December 10), an event by the hospital, which aimed to highlight the importance of having clean hands. As part of this, patients were encouraged to ask clinical staff if they had washed their hands before attending to them.

"Washing our hands is the single most important act we can all do to control the transfer of infections in the clinical setting. This responsibility applies to staff, patients and visitors alike so collaboration and dialogue is vital. This Awareness Day shows that we are working hard to constantly improve the infection control procedures in our hospital," commented the hospital's CEO, David Slevin.

Also speaking about the initiaitve, clinical lead for the awareness day, Dr Daragh Fahey, insisted that when it comes to hand hygiene, the only acceptable figure in terms of compliance is 100%.

"This is why Tallaght Hospital staff are quite literally rolling up their sleeves to fight infection and engage with patients and visitors on the role they can play. The range of hospital activities and initiatives on the theme of ‘clean hands - save lives' has shown that education and engagement on infection control can be both informative and fun," Dr Fahey added.