Hand Washing

Hand Washing

This paper is based on the topic of hand washing and its importance for the healthcare professionals working in typical hospital settings.



What is Handwashing?

Handwashing is what we commonly do to get our hands clean. This process of vigorous, brief rubbing together of all surfaces of lathered hands, followed by rinsing under a stream of water removes soil and transient microorganisms from the hands. Antisepsis is a handwashing technique using antiseptic cleansers such as anti-microbial soaps or alcohol-based hand rubs (www.medpedia.com).

Transient microorganisms are not consistently present on most hands, being easily removed with ordinary handwashing. But another kind of microorganism, called resident microorganisms or colonizing flora, are considered permanent residents of the skin and are not easily removed by ordinary handwashing.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." The origin of this expression is unclear, though it could have originated from ancient Hebrew or Egyptian writings. The first English version seems to have originated from Francis Bacon. In any case, the meaning of the expression is clear: keeping your body clean is vital (www.medpedia.com).

Cleanliness is important in any workplace; however, it is crucial in certain occupations. For instance, cleanliness is a top priority in the medical industry. Bacteria can become a life and death issue. Fortunately, the personnel can use a wide variety of methods, including the wearing of scrubs, such as cheap landau scrubs. Keeping your hands clean as a bean is another method to prevent the transferring of bacteria. Here are some tips for effective hand washing:

Common sense tells us that our hands need washing when they're visibly dirty. But the need for handwashing varies from one setting to another. In health care and foodservice environments, handwashing must be more frequent. That is, surgeons and chefs probably need to wash their hands more often than bricklayers and stock brokers (wiki.medpedia.com).

APIC Recommendations for Health Care Workers:

When to Wash

In health care settings, handwashing is critically important. Health care workers' hands can carry bacteria, viruses, and fungi that may be infectious to themselves and others. Not surprisingly, a recent article in Healthcare Purchasing News reported that more and more helathcare facilities now include handwashing compliance in employee performance reviews. APIC guidelines suggest that, in health care environments, workers should judge when to wash their hands based on:

Intensity of contact with patients.

Degree of contamination that is likely to occur with that contact.

Susceptibility of patients to infection.

Procedure to be performed (www.in.gov).

APIC recommends that workers in health care settings cleanse hands thoroughly with soap and water, or through hand antisepsis, under the following conditions:

Before and after patient contact, especially when hands have had contact with mucous membranes, secretions, excretions, blood and/or body fluids.

After contact with a source of microorganisms.

After removing gloves (www.kcprofessional.com).

APIC guidelines also recommend hand antisepsis using antimicrobial soaps or alcohol-based hand rubs in the following circumstances:

Before performing invasive procedures.

When persistent antimicrobial activity on the hands is desired.

When it is important to reduce numbers of resident skin flora in addition to transient microorganisms.

For general patient care, APIC guidelines recommend the use of plain, ...