Topics Paper - Handwashing and Safe Work Place Hygiene.

Hand hygiene practices are important thing to infection prevention and control practice. As health provider especially ED staff or front liner, to follow hand washing protocols is necessary in any situation. According Practice Standard (2009) four major elements to preventing practice; hand washing, protective barriers, care of equipment and health practice of nurse. Cite from Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland, scientists has found around 45% of infections can be prevented by washing hands regularly. MOH (2010) increasing in hand-washing compliance by

Thoroughly washing your hands can be one of the best ways to prevent the spread of pathogens that cause illnesses. Our bodies have several lines of defense to fight infections. It is very important to do what we can do to avoid the pathogens from entering our system in the first place. Our hands pick up microscopic pathogens from objects that were touched by people who may not have washed their hands very well. When we forget to wash our hands or don’t wash them properly, we can spread pathogens from our hands to our internal systems by touching other parts of our body. During this lab activity, my partner and I will test the effectiveness of different hand-washing times, techniques, and

OBJECTIVE The objective for Rabie and Curtis (2006) was to determine the influence of hand washing on the risk of respiratory infection. METHOD The method adopted by Rabie and Curtis (2006) was to study a number of primary and review articles from five diverse databases before June 2004 in differing languages, to create a systematic review. Included in the review were studies which identified the impact of an intervention to promote hand cleansing on respiratory infections. Studies regarding hospital-acquired infections, long-term care facilities and the elderly were excluded. All studies were then evaluated where a conclusive decision was reached by consensus. Interestingly, from a primary list of 410 articles, only eight interventional studies reached the eligibility criteria. RESULTS The eight eligible studies disclosed that hand washing with antiseptic soap lowered risks of respiratory infection; the risk reduction identified as being from 6% to 44% and this range figures implied that hand washing can indeed reduce the risk of respiratory infection by 16% (Rabie and Curtis 2006). CONCLUSION Rabie and Curtis (2006) concluded that the studies collected were of insufficient quality and only one of the studies related to severe disease as well as none of the studies related

Dirty hands is the common source of spreading infection. It is very important to keep hands clean to avoid getting infected and spreading infection in the community. It is important to wash hands to keep hands clean. There are two ways to keep hand clean, one way is wash hands with soap and warm water while rubbing hands together for minimum 15 to 30 seconds. Indication of washing hands with soap and water is when hands are visibly dirty, before and after eating, feeding, using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, after using gloves, taking care of patients. There is also second way to clean hands, but it is advisable to wash hands with soap and water all the time, but it can ignore when soap and water is not available so it is okay to use hand gel or foam in the form of sanitizer. This helps to clean hands or kill germs when hands are not visibly dirty.

This experiment illustrates the importance of handwashing and proves that hand washing is worth it. Since our hands are constantly coming into contact with ourselves and others, touching surfaces, grabbing objects, being sneezed into, etc., keeping our hands clean is one of the most effective, yet simple way we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running warm water. “The human skin is a host to anywhere between 10,000-10,000,000 bacteria per square centimeter and since health care providers come into contact with pathogenic bacteria by being engaged in patient care, hand washing can reduce the risk of spreading diseases (page 3).” The objective of the experiment is to test the effectiveness of hand washing and demonstrate normal flora. This report presents the procedures and materials for the experiment, the experiment's results, and an analysis of those results.

The importance of proper hand hygiene has been known for many years. “It has long been an established fact that one of the most dangerous agents in the transfer of bacteria is the human hand with its five fingers…Such being the case, pray let us teach our students to wash their hands and see to it that they

To help the prevention of infection spreading is by knowing the method of washing your hand because we carry most bacteria sue to the open air that we come in contact with. For example we use are hands to shake hands with someone holding or touching objects. When you are performing any form of hand hygiene you will need to make sure that you have washed your hand with anti-bacterial liquid soap; this is to help prevent any bacteria which we already have on our hands. In all health and social care settings an automatic liquid dispenser should be placed so that when washing hands any individual doesn’t touch or need to even sneeze any part of the liquid

Generations of people have considered handwashing a measure of personal hygiene. In 1847, Dr. Semmelweis insisted that healthcare providers wash their hands with disinfecting agents between patients. This early hand hygiene practice resulted in a decrease in mortality rates among hospital patients (CDC, 2002). The CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee published the Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings in 2002 that is based on hand hygiene foundations developed in generation past. In 2014, this guideline is still available online and used as a reference

Healthcare associated infections have an impact on patients - how? Can be prevented greatly with compliance to hand hygiene protocols (REF).

Hands were wet by a running tap and antiseptic detergents or liquid soap (5ml was poured onto the hands, the technique consisted of five backwards and forwards strokes in the motion of; palm to palm, each palm over the other hand’s back, interlocking palm to palm, each palm over the other hand’s back interlocked and then the rotational scrubbing of the fingers into each palm finalised by the rubbing of the wrists during a 30-second time span. Then the hands were rinsed with water for 15-seconds and dried with two paper towels for 15-seconds. (Ayliffe et all, 1978) Whilst this technique has strict timescales the WHO elects the timescale of roughly the time taken to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. This raises concerns over the approximates as this will differ from person to person. The procedure itself remains nearly exact except from the addition of turning the tap off with a towel to avoid recontamination and the exact timings are lost. This technique only stated to use running water, however no temperature was specified. Hand Washing for Life (200-) advises that water should not be above 110F as this temperature would cause hands become damaged by loosing delicate tissues on the skin. This can cause bacteria to become trapped and more difficult to remove, as well as cause pain to the worker. It is a legal requirement for health professions to take the necessary measures to

Within the essay I am going to discuss whether good hand hygiene practices are the single most important factor in preventing cross infection. Some may argue for this statement others against. Jeanes A (2005) refers to the NMC code of professional conduct (2004) who state that you must act to identify and minimise risk to patients and clients.

Recent studies show that at any time, over 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from hospital-acquired infections (Public Health Ontario). In Canada alone, approximately 250 000 patients every year contract infectious micro-organisms from their healthcare providers (Nagel 18). At London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) we take pride in providing world class care in a safe, comfortable environment for patients. However, between 2008 and 2010 the LHSC still had between 20 and 30 per cent non-compliance to proper hand-washing protocol (Nagel 20). This data is very troubling considering it is following the launch of “Just Clean Your Hands” pilot project. As student nurses and volunteers of the LHSC team we are equally responsible to increase hand-washing compliance.

About ninety-five percent of individuals wash their hands improperly. This means that for every one hundred people, only five people actually effectively sanitize their hands. This includes while cooking, using the restroom and exercising. How disgusting is that? To think about shaking hands with individuals who do not wash their hands correctly or at all is quite disturbing. Every day, individuals are becoming ill and/or dying due to infections and disease. Infections are constantly being spread and it is impossible to eliminate them one hundred percent. However, there are a variety of simple ways people can prevent them from further spreading. It is vital to educate young people about what infection is, how it is transmitted, and

Health is not merely the absence of disease or sickness but the state of complete physical, mental, and social well being, according to the World Health Organization. With that being said, Health is more then just becoming ill and taking medication. Prevention is better then finding a cure, and there are many small things that you can do to hinder harmful and infectious germs from entering your body. One of the main ways to stay away from germs and other harmful microscopic organisms is to wash your hands. Although it seems useless, our hands play a significant role in the transportation of germs from one place to another because of the amount we use our hands. Simple things like washing your hands before and after eating, when using the

A defensive strategy is important when trying to avoid infecting oneself with an illness lying in wait (Wisegeek.com, 2011). According to Mayo Clinic (2009), frequent handwashing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Although it is impossible to keep hands germ-free, washing hands frequently can help limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses and other microbes.