Frequently Asked Questions

Clocking in for your shift will depend on your departments specific processes. Please reach out to your manager to determine the correct steps.

Clocking in for your shift will depend on your departments specific processes. Please reach out to your manager to determine the correct steps.

Clocking in for your shift will depend on your departments specific processes. Please reach out to your manager to determine the correct steps.

If your recruitment advisor has not provided you with a date for an Occupational Health Appointment* or if you have lost the appointment invitation, please contact your recruitment advisor as soon as possible to make arrangements.

*Please note that this appointment is a requirement for your employment and missing this appointment can impact your start date at KHSC.

If your recruitment advisor has not provided you with a date for an Occupational Health Appointment* or if you have lost the appointment invitation, please contact your recruitment advisor as soon as possible to make arrangements.

*Please note that this appointment is a requirement for your employment and missing this appointment can impact your start date at KHSC.

If your recruitment advisor has not provided you with a date for an Occupational Health Appointment* or if you have lost the appointment invitation, please contact your recruitment advisor as soon as possible to make arrangements.

*Please note that this appointment is a requirement for your employment and missing this appointment can impact your start date at KHSC.

You can submit any physical copies of your employee documents to the Total Rewards team located on Watkins 4 at the KGH site. They are available from 8:00-16:00 Monday through Friday.

If you are submitting your employee documents after hours, please consider submitting the documents digitally (see below) or use the drop-box on Watkins 4.

You can also submit scanned or photo versions of your employee documents (with the exception of CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK) to @email

**Please note that a delay in submitting your employee documents can result in notifications to your manager and can have impacts on your pay.

You can submit any physical copies of your employee documents to the Total Rewards team located on Watkins 4 at the KGH site. They are available from 8:00-16:00 Monday through Friday.

If you are submitting your employee documents after hours, please consider submitting the documents digitally (see below) or use the drop-box on Watkins 4.

You can also submit scanned or photo versions of your employee documents (with the exception of CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK) to @email

**Please note that a delay in submitting your employee documents can result in notifications to your manager and can have impacts on your pay.

You can submit any physical copies of your employee documents to the Total Rewards team located on Watkins 4 at the KGH site. They are available from 8:00-16:00 Monday through Friday.

If you are submitting your employee documents after hours, please consider submitting the documents digitally (see below) or use the drop-box on Watkins 4.

You can also submit scanned or photo versions of your employee documents (with the exception of CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK) to @email

**Please note that a delay in submitting your employee documents can result in notifications to your manager and can have impacts on your pay.

Direct observation of hand hygiene practice is done by trained observers using the provincial audit tool. The observer conducts observations openly, recording what they see, with the identity of the health care provider is kept confidential.

Direct observation of hand hygiene practice is done by trained observers using the provincial audit tool. The observer conducts observations openly, recording what they see, with the identity of the health care provider is kept confidential.

Direct observation of hand hygiene practice is done by trained observers using the provincial audit tool. The observer conducts observations openly, recording what they see, with the identity of the health care provider is kept confidential.

Hand hygiene involves everyone in the hospital, including patients. Hand cleaning is one of the best ways you and your health care team can prevent the spread of many infections. Patients and their visitors should also practice good hand hygiene before and after entering patient rooms.

More information is available at:

•  Ministry of Health and Long Term Care - Patient Safety  
• Public Health Ontario - Just Clean Your Hands campaign

KGH works hard-to create a culture of patient safety involves everyone – health care administration, health -care professionals, and, of course, patients and families. If low hand hygiene compliance rates are identified, we will review infection prevention and control practices to ensure that they align with best practices documents, as well as the Just Clean Your Hands program and introduce educational interventions and make appropriate revisions to our program.

For the purpose of public reporting, data will be reported on an annual basis. The decision was made to report annually so that hospitals were able to submit enough data and that the compliance rate was statistically valid.

Patients should know that their hospital is safe, that the care they receive is topnotch, and that every effort is made to ensure the highest quality of care possible. Public reporting of hand hygiene compliance rates is another helpful measure to ensure the care provided to Ontario patients is even safer, and continues to improve over time. 

A low reported compliance rate does not necessarily mean that health care providers are not performing hand hygiene. The audit tool measures whether health care providers are performing hand hygiene at the right times and the right way. That is why it is vital that hand hygiene compliance rates are viewed in the context of other performance indicators. That said, the analysis of these rates, over time will certainly provide helpful information that can be used to make system improvements in each hospital.

No. Patient safety is a number one priority for all Ontario hospitals. There are numerous checks and balances in place to ensure the safety of public hospitals but hospital care is complicated and depends on many factors. The public reporting of hospitals’ hand hygiene compliance rates is not intended to serve as a measure for hospitals to compare themselves against other organizations, or for the public to use as a measure of where to seek care. Rates can vary from hospital to hospital, month to month. Some hospitals will have lower observation opportunities because they do not have as much direct provider-to-patient care opportunities. Due to the types and patient populations (i.e. mental health) of these hospitals, their rates may seem lower. Like other indicators, it is important to look at hand hygiene compliance rates in a broader context. The rates must be examined in order to get a sense of how hospitals are performing – where they excel and where improvements could be made. It is important to look at all of these indicators in combination.

Health care providers performing hand hygiene is a practice that continues to improve as we learn more about hand hygiene best practices. Both hospitals and the health care system have invested considerable resources to improve hand hygiene in hospitals.

The Public Health Ontario provincial hand hygiene campaign, Just Clean Your Hands, was designed to help hospitals and individuals overcome barriers to proper hand hygiene and improve compliance with hand hygiene best practices. The program recognizes that health care providers are busy and require immediate access to hand hygiene products at the right time in the patient care process.

At KGH, for example, where sinks used to be located inconveniently throughout hospitals, there is now fast and easy access to more than 2,200 alcohol-based hand rubs outside all inpatient rooms and adjacent to patients’ bedsides. There are also more freestanding hand cleaning stations located at all main entrances. In addition, ongoing education sessions are held to ensure health care providers know when and where to clean their hands to ensure patient safety.

Direct observation of hand hygiene practice is done by trained observers using the provincial audit tool. The observer conducts observations openly, recording what they see, with the identity of the health care provider is kept confidential.

The single most common transmission of healthcare-associated infections in a health care setting is via the hands of health care providers.

Health care providers acquire germs from contact with infected patients, or after handling contaminated material or equipment. Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers but also involves everyone in the hospital, including patients, families and visitors.

Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a key role in improving patient and health care worker safety, and in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections.

Hand hygiene is the removal of visible soil and removal or killing of microorganisms from the hands. This can be accomplished using soap and water for visibly soiled hands or an alcohol-based hand rub.

Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) is often abbreviated to C. difficile or C. diff for short.

C. difficile is a germ that can be found, on occasion, in people’s bowels. It does not always cause problems or symptoms but in some cases can. In some people who are also taking antibiotics, the germ can grow because the antibiotics kill off many of the “good” and harmless germs that normally prevent the C. difficile from growing to high numbers.

C. difficile makes a toxin that damages the fragile lining of the bowel causing inflammation and loose watery bowel movements (diarrhea) and inflammation.

For more information and other related topics we recommend you visit:

• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Patient Safety 
• Public Health Ontario - Regional Infection Control Networks (RICN)

It is not possible to prevent every case of C. difficile infection but each of us can protect ourselves and others by cleaning our hands often. Health-care providers in hospitals must clean their hands according the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s and hygiene guidelines. If you are receiving care in a hospital it is OK to ask anyone providing care to you if they have cleaned their hands. Cleaning your own hands after using the toilet, before you eat, after blowing your nose and any time they are dirty is a basic and important step to prevent the spread of all infections including C. difficile. Taking antibiotics only as needed and as prescribed by your doctor or nurse-practitioner (advanced practice nurse) and watching out for diarrhea are also important.

Yes, in severe cases of CDI, death can occur. This is uncommon and tends to occur in those people with other severe health problems. The vast majority of people recover from CDI.

If CDI is suspected, a stool (bowel movement) sample is tested in a laboratory for the toxin it makes. The test takes several hours to perform and most hospitals do this test in their own laboratory. Those hospitals that do not do this test themselves will send the stool sample to another laboratory to do the test. Sometimes a doctor will look directly into the bowel with a special scope (called a sigmoidoscope or colonoscope) to detect abnormal changes in the lining of the bowel that mean that C. difficile is causing the diarrhea. 

If a person has diarrhea due to CDI, a doctor will prescribe a type of antibiotic that kills the C. difficile germs. The two most commonly used antibiotics to treat CDI are metronidazole and vancomycin.

C. difficile can be spread from one person to another by contact, hand hygiene is critical to preventing its spread in a health-care setting.

If a patient is positive for C. difficile they are placed on Contact Precautions.

So what are Contact Precautions?

Contact Precautions aim to limit the spread of C. difficile to other patients and to health care providers. You may be placed in a private room or with other patients who are also carrying the bacteria. A sign may be placed on your door to remind others who enter your room about these special Contact Precautions. Those caring for you as well as visitors will be asked to clean their hands, gown and glove before entering your room. Everyone who enters and leaves your room must clean their hands well. The room and equipment in the room will be cleaned and disinfected regularly.

If you get the C. difficile germ you most often do not develop any symptoms of diarrhea at all. People, particularly those taking antibiotics, may get diarrhea. The diarrhea can range from mild to severe with many bowel movements in a day and accompanied by abdominal pain and cramps.

The C. difficile germ enters your body by ingestion of C. difficile spores. This is why cleaning your hands is so important to prevent picking up C. difficile and other germs. You can pick up the C. difficile germ anywhere, but the C. difficile germ is especially common in hospitals because hospitals have many people being given antibiotics. The chances of the C. difficile germ spreading from person to person is much higher in a hospital than it is in your own home, for example.

C. difficile is one of the most common infections found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and has been a known cause of health-care associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Seniors and people who have other illnesses or conditions being treated with antibiotics and those who take acid-suppressing stomach medications are at greater risk of an infection from C. difficile.

The C. difficile germ enters your body by ingestion of C. difficile spores. This is why cleaning your hands is so important to prevent picking up C. difficile and other germs. You can pick up the C. difficile germ anywhere, but the C. difficile germ is especially common in hospitals because hospitals have many people being given antibiotics. The chances of the C. difficile germ spreading from person to person is much higher in a hospital than it is in your own home, for example.

C. difficile is one of the most common infections found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and has been a known cause of health-care associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

The C. difficile germ enters your body by ingestion of C. difficile spores. This is why cleaning your hands is so important to prevent picking up C. difficile and other germs. You can pick up the C. difficile germ anywhere, but the C. difficile germ is especially common in hospitals because hospitals have many people being given antibiotics. The chances of the C. difficile germ spreading from person to person is much higher in a hospital than it is in your own home, for example.

C. difficile is one of the most common infections found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and has been a known cause of health-care associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

The C. difficile germ enters your body by ingestion of C. difficile spores. This is why cleaning your hands is so important to prevent picking up C. difficile and other germs. You can pick up the C. difficile germ anywhere, but the C. difficile germ is especially common in hospitals because hospitals have many people being given antibiotics. The chances of the C. difficile germ spreading from person to person is much higher in a hospital than it is in your own home, for example.

C. difficile is one of the most common infections found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and has been a known cause of health-care associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

Hospitals will post their bi-annual percentage compliance at the end of July and January.

Patient safety is a number one priority for all KGH. There are numerous checks and balances in place to ensure the safety of our hospital but hospital care is complicated and depends on many factors. The public reporting of hospitals’ checklist compliance rates is not intended to serve as a measure for hospitals to compare themselves against other organizations, or for the public to use as a measure of where to seek care. Like other patient safety indicators, it is important to look at checklist compliance rates in a broader context. The rates must be examined in order to get a sense of how hospitals are performing – where they excel and where improvements could be made. It is important to look at all of these indicators in combination.

The public reporting of our surgical checklist percentage compliance allows us to establish a baseline from which we can track over time. We will closely monitor our rates and should they decrease, we will look closely at our operating room processes and target areas for improvement. The checklist percentage compliance measures the degree to which all three phases (i.e., a briefing, a time out, and a debriefing) of the checklist were performed correctly and appropriately for each surgical patient. We are always striving for 100 per cent compliance. 

Hospitals will post their bi-annual percentage compliance at the end of July and January.

KGH implemented the checklist in one surgical specialty in November 2009. The checklist was implemented in all surgeries in April 2010.

As part of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s public reporting of patient safety indicators initiative, eligible hospitals are legally required to post their checklist compliance percentages. KGH strongly supports the provincial government’s strategy to publicly report patient safety Indicators because we believe it will enhance patient safety and strengthen the public’s confidence in our hospitals.

The Canadian Patient Safety Institute has a checklist template that has mandatory requirements for Ontario hospitals to use. KGH then adds additional items to this template that allows us to customize items to fit the type of surgeries performed here and have been declared to be important to the KGH patient population. 

If you undergo a surgery at Kingston General Hospital, you can expect that the surgical safety checklist will be used as part of the procedure. As a patient, you will be asked questions by a surgical team member so that they can complete a portion of the checklist with you.  It will then be used by your surgical team members before, during and after your surgery to help the surgical team members familiarize themselves with your medical history and any special requirements that may be needed for your individual case. 

Operating room teams have many important steps to follow in order to ensure a safe and effective surgery for every patient. The checklist is a useful tool that helps promote good communication and teamwork among the health care team to help ensure the best outcomes for patients.

The checklist is used at three distinct stages or phases during surgery:

• pre-induction (before the patient is put to sleep)
• time out (just before the first incision)
• and debriefing (during or after surgical closure)

Some examples of items contained in the checklist include:

The briefing phase:

• Verify with patient name and procedure to be done
• Allergy check
• Medications check
• Operation site, side and procedure
• Lab tests, X-rays

The “time out” phase:

• Patient position
• Operation site and side and procedure
• Antibiotics check

The debriefing phase:

• Surgeon reviews important items
• Anesthesiologist reviews important items
• Nurse reviews correct counts 

A surgical safety checklist is a patient safety communication tool that is used by a team of operating room professionals (nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and others) to discuss important details about each surgical case. In many ways, the surgical checklist is similar to an airline pilot’s checklist used just before take-off. It is a final check prior to surgery used to make sure everyone knows the important medical information they need to know about the patient, all equipment is available and in working order, and everyone is ready to proceed. 

Hospitals will post their bi-annual percentage compliance at the end of July and January.