Nursing: Handwashing
Infection Control Basics
There are 2 tiers of recommended precautions to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings:
Standard Precautions and Transmission-Based Precautions.
Standard Precautions are used for all patient care. They’re based on a risk assessment and make use of common sense practices and personal protective equipment use that protect healthcare providers from infection and prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient.
Transmission-Based Precautions are the second tier of basic infection control and are to be used in addition to Standard Precautions for patients who may be infected or colonized with certain infectious agents for which additional precautions are needed to prevent infection transmission.
Standard precautions include:
- Hand hygiene.
- Use of personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, gowns, masks)
- Safe injection practices.
- Safe handling of potentially contaminated equipment or surfaces in the patient environment, and.
- Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette.
Source: Guideline for Isolation Precautions and Infection Prevention and you
Introduction
This is a gathering of resources that are relevant to washing one's hands. Hygiene and cleanliness are one of the most important duties that a person in the health care field can perform. Proper hand washing ensures that germs and the spread of disease is kept to a minimum.
- Hand Healthy GuidelinesHand washing, also referred to as hand hygiene, is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading infections to others, in the home, at work, at school, when traveling, or in a healthcare setting. The attention to prevention of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic has helped propel this “simple” measure into the spotlight as a new habit to stay healthy and prevent the spread of infections like flu, colds or intestinal illnesses. Hand washing requires only soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
CDC Basic Handwashing Video
Wash Your Hands: The Right Way
When should you wash your hands?
- Before, during, and after preparing food
- Before eating food
- Before and after caring for someone who is sick
- Before and after treating a cut or wound
- After using the toilet
- After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
- After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
- After touching an animal or animal waste
- After touching garbage
- CDC Handwashing: Clean Hands Saves LivesScientists estimate that people are not washing their hands often or well enough and may transmit up to 80% of all infections by their hands. From doorknobs to animals to food, harmful germs can live on almost everything. Handwashing may be your single most important act to help stop the spread of infection and stay healthy.
CDC Handwashing Hygiene
The link is for the CDC Webasite on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare setting. Taken from the page description,
"Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings provides healthcare workers and patients with a variety of resources including guidelines for providers, patient empowerment materials, the latest technological advances in hand hygiene adherence measurement, frequently asked questions, and links to promotional and educational tools published by the WHO, universities, and health departments."
Hand Hygiene Guidelines
Wash 'Em Video
Video from Jefferson Hospital..."At Jefferson University Hospitals, we take preventing infections seriously. Our latest effort to boost our hand washing is a video we created called "Wash 'Em." Watch our staff dance around the Hospital while showing the importance of hand washing. You'll be singing our song all day!"
CDC Guidelines
"The Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings provides health-care workers (HCWs) with a review of data regarding handwashing and hand antisepsis in health-care settings."
- Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings Published 2002CDC Healthcare Handwash Guidelines
Resources for Correct Handwashing Procedures
- Five Key Moments for Hand Hygiene1. Before touching a patient
2. Before clean/aseptic procedures
3. After body fluid exposure risks
4. After touching a patient
5. After touching patient surroundings
Clean Hands Save Lives - PDF Poster
- PDF Poster Shows Dirty Hands29" x 19" high quality poster for placing throughout your facility. Shows bugs that can lead to infection and may be found on unclean healthcare worker's hands.
