Yeah I agree I submitted an article on this topic yesterday. In Britain they are putting in strict guidelines on hand washing because of the superbug.

I was taught it too. In fact, my mom was very strict about it and it drove my dad crazy. According to PittNurse's article, however, it does seem that there are an awful lot of doctors/nurses that are not abiding by our parents' advice. What should be done to ensure that they do?

Perhaps in the military the federal government needs to provide the mandate, but I don't think that "big brother" should be regulating civilian hospitals' sanitary practices. This should be left up to the healthcare providers themselves, but there should be federal laws stating that if said hospital is not enforcing sanitary regulations they will lose their tax-exempt status or federal grant funds. That will start heads rolling!

Hospitals already have a "big brother." It's called JCAHO.

JonZ, it's not even the military, it's my civilian job! And in the dialysis world, we have spot checks from the state, Medicare and OSHA. If we have anything wrong, including a tech or RN not sanitizing/washing between gloves, we can be shut down, especially if the incidents observed add up. Of course we won't be shut down right away, but we will be inspected more and more often because of the infraction.

Marieke said:

You are supposed to wash your hands before and after you touch a patient, before and after you eat, after you use the washroom and anytime you soil them...

This is what we were taught in school.

I work as a staff nurse and I "wash" I use quotes because it is really referred to as foaming when I enter the patients room, when I leave patients room and when I enter another patients room, etc., etc. Obviously I also wash prior to and after eating or taking a potty break.

WE SHOULD WASH  HANDS BEFORE AND AFTER DEALING WITH PATIENTS,AFTER  TOILET,BEFORE AND AFTER EATING.IN OUR HOSPITAL   HAND WASHING TEACHING IS INCLUDED IN PATIENT AND FAMILY EDUCATION BEFORE DISCHARGE.

Mrbrown, OSHA and the CDC both mandate handwashing under standard and universal precautions.

There's a kind of teacing soap you can get that will glow under a black (UV) light and show you places you miss handwashing.  The health department usually has some and uses it when educating the public on handwashing.  You'd be amazed by what you miss.  I used it during a community health course--I always thought I did a good job, and was amazed by what I'd left behind.

I teach my students to wash on entering and before leaving a patient room, whenever hands are soiled, before and after eating, and before and after using the restroom.  Yes, that is a lot of handwashing.  There is a risk of chapping your hands with all that washing.  Most hospitals have alcohol gels with lotion that prevent chapping.  I still use soap and water frequently because the lotion builds up a film that can itself become a medium for bacterial growth.

Be sure to dry your hands completely before using a FRESH dry towel to turn off the tap.  Use a fresh dry towel to open the bathroom door when you leave the bathroom--it is a source of a lot of pathogens.

One of my local hospitals has a handwashing team.  Infection rates went way down once they implemented it.  They also installed the gel in hallways outside of rooms, and inside the rooms to encourage handwashing.