Hand Hygiene for Healthcare Workers | Hand Washing Soap and Water Technique Nursing Skill
Summary
TLDRThis video demonstrates proper hand hygiene techniques using soap and water, explaining when to choose this method over alcohol-based hand rubs. It emphasizes handwashing before and after patient care, after contact with body fluids, and in specific situations like exposure to infectious agents. The video provides a step-by-step guide on how to wash hands thoroughly, covering areas such as the palms, backs of hands, thumbs, fingers, and wrists. The process concludes with safe drying techniques to prevent contamination. Proper hygiene is crucial for infection prevention in healthcare settings.
Takeaways
- 👐 There are two main ways to perform hand hygiene: using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
- ⏰ Hand hygiene should be performed before and after patient care, after contact with body fluids, touching patient surroundings, removing gloves, before eating, and after using the restroom.
- 🧼 Soap and water should be used when hands are visibly dirty, after exposure to C. difficile, during norovirus outbreaks, and when handling anthrax or infectious diarrhea cases.
- 💧 Warm water is preferred, as hot water can dry and crack the skin, making it uncomfortable.
- 💍 Remove or avoid jewelry during patient care, as it can harbor germs. If a ring is worn, it should be washed along with the hands.
- 🌀 Scrub hands in circular motions for at least 20 seconds to remove germs effectively, covering palms, backs of hands, thumbs, and in between fingers.
- 💅 Pay special attention to fingernails and knuckles, where bacteria tend to hide.
- 🖐️ Scrub wrists and go about one inch above them while cleaning.
- 🚿 Rinse hands with water running downward from wrists to fingertips to avoid spreading germs up the arms.
- 📄 Dry hands by patting with a paper towel, and use a dry paper towel to turn off the faucet to avoid contamination.
Q & A
What are the two ways a nurse can perform hand hygiene?
-A nurse can perform hand hygiene using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
When should hand hygiene be performed according to the video?
-Hand hygiene should be performed before and after patient care, after contact with body fluids, an open wound, or surfaces close to the patient, after removing gloves, before eating, and after using the bathroom.
When is it recommended to use soap and water instead of an alcohol-based hand rub?
-Soap and water should be used when hands are visibly dirty, after exposure to Clostridium difficile (C. diff) or norovirus, during outbreaks, after exposure to Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), before eating, and after using the restroom.
Why is it important to avoid touching the inside of the sink while washing hands?
-The inside of the sink is considered dirty and can cause contamination if touched, potentially undoing the hand hygiene process.
How much soap should be used when performing hand hygiene with soap and water?
-About 1 teaspoon or 5 milliliters of soap should be used, which is often dispensed automatically.
What areas of the hands should be scrubbed during hand washing, and for how long?
-The palms, backs of hands, thumbs, fingers (including around fingernails), knuckles, and wrists should be scrubbed using circular motions for 20 seconds.
Why is it important to scrub the hands using circular motions?
-Circular motions help to effectively remove germs and bacteria from all areas of the hands, especially small crevices where germs may hide.
What should be done after rinsing the hands to ensure proper hygiene?
-After rinsing, hands should be patted dry with a paper towel to avoid damaging the skin, and a separate dry paper towel should be used to turn off the faucet to avoid recontamination.
Why shouldn't a wet paper towel be used to turn off the faucet?
-A wet paper towel can allow germs from the faucet to transfer through the towel and recontaminate the hands.
Why is it recommended to avoid wearing jewelry during hand hygiene, and what should be done if a wedding band is worn?
-Jewelry can harbor germs, and if a wedding band is worn, it should be kept on during hand hygiene to ensure it is cleaned along with the hands.
Outlines
🧼 Importance of Hand Hygiene in Healthcare
The speaker introduces the topic of hand hygiene, emphasizing its critical role in healthcare settings. There are two main methods: using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. Hand hygiene should be performed before and after patient care, after contact with bodily fluids, touching contaminated surfaces, before eating, and after bathroom use. The CDC advises using soap and water when hands are visibly dirty, after exposure to infections such as Clostridium difficile or anthrax, during diarrhea outbreaks, before eating, and after using the restroom.
💧 Step-by-Step Guide to Hand Hygiene with Soap and Water
The speaker demonstrates proper hand hygiene using soap and water. The necessary supplies include soap, paper towels, and warm water. Jewelry should ideally be removed, but if worn, it must be cleaned too. The water temperature should be warm to avoid skin irritation. Avoid touching the sink to prevent contamination. Wet your hands, apply about 1 teaspoon of soap, and scrub all parts of the hands using circular motions for at least 20 seconds. Special attention should be paid to the palms, backs of the hands, thumbs, knuckles, fingernails, and between fingers to ensure thorough cleaning.
🚿 Proper Rinsing and Drying Techniques
The speaker explains how to properly rinse and dry hands. After scrubbing, rinse hands under running water, keeping hands lower than the elbows. Use a clean paper towel to gently pat hands dry, as rubbing may damage the skin. Use another paper towel to turn off the faucet to avoid recontamination, and discard it afterward. Wet paper towels are not recommended for this task as they can transfer germs from the faucet to the hands. The video concludes with a reminder to follow these steps for effective hand hygiene and to subscribe for more informative content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Hand Hygiene
💡Soap and Water
💡Alcohol-based Hand Rub
💡Clostridium difficile (C. diff)
💡Norovirus
💡Fingernails
💡Faucet Hygiene
💡Body Fluids
💡Jewelry
💡Paper Towels
Highlights
Introduction to hand hygiene methods: soap and water vs. alcohol-based hand rub.
Hand hygiene should be performed before and after patient care, after contact with body fluids or open wounds, and before eating or using the bathroom.
The CDC guidelines recommend using soap and water when hands are visibly dirty or after exposure to specific pathogens such as Clostridium difficile (C-diff) and Bacillus anthracis (anthrax).
Hand hygiene using soap and water is necessary during outbreaks of infectious diarrhea, norovirus, or if suspected exposure to C-diff or anthrax.
Proper handwashing technique: use warm water, avoid contamination by not letting clothes touch the sink, and wet hands before applying soap.
Avoid wearing jewelry during patient care as it can harbor germs; if wearing a wedding band, wash hands while keeping the ring on.
Use about 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of soap, and some dispensers are automatic, providing the right amount.
Scrub hands using circular motions for 20 seconds, covering all parts of the hands, including palms, backs, thumbs, fingers, and knuckles.
Pay special attention to cleaning fingernails and between fingers where bacteria hide.
Rinse hands with water flowing downward from wrists to fingertips, keeping hands lower than elbows.
Dry hands by patting with a paper towel to avoid damaging the skin.
Use a dry paper towel to turn off the faucet to prevent recontamination from faucet germs.
Avoid using a wet paper towel to turn off the faucet as germs can transfer through the wet towel.
Summary of hand hygiene: proper technique ensures effective removal of germs and prevents infection transmission.
Video concludes with encouragement to subscribe to the channel for more educational videos.
Transcripts
hey everyone at CR thread sterner Sarang
calm and in this video I want to
demonstrate how to perform hand hygiene
by using soap and water there are two
ways a nurse can perform hand hygiene
one way is through using soap and water
and another way is through using an
alcohol-based hand rub so when do you
want to perform hand hygiene you would
always want to perform hand hygiene
before and after patient care after
coming into contact was like a body
fluid or an open womb or touching
something close to the patient like a
bedside table the hand railing on the
bed or after removing your gloves before
eating and after using the bathroom now
when would you use soap and water versus
the alcohol-based hand rubs
well according to CDC Gove's guidelines
you would use soap and water when your
hands are visibly dirty after known or
suspected exposure to Clostridium
difficile which is c-diff if your
facility is experiencing an outbreak or
higher endemic rates after known or
suspected exposure to patients with
infectious diarrhea during norovirus
outbreaks
if exposure to bacillus anthracis is
suspected or proven which is anthrax
before eating and after using a restroom
so now I'm going to demonstrate how to
perform hand hygiene using soap and
water so first you need your supplies of
course you need soap you need some paper
towels and you need running water
now faucets vary depending on where you
work some are automate oh you just have
to swipe your hand underneath the water
will come on or you use a petal or it
has little faucet handles that you have
to use to turn on and off now generally
it's best not to wear jewelry during
patient care because that jewelry can
Harbor germs in some areas in the
hospital like surgery for instance
actually prohibits a person from wearing
jewelry all together but usually on some
units you can wear like a simple wedding
band so if you do wear a wedding band
and you're wearing it during patient
care you need to keep that wedding band
on whenever you're performing hand
hygiene because you want to
clean it because underneath that ring it
can Harbor germs as well so first what
we're going to do is we're going to turn
on our water and we want our water to be
warm not too hot because if it's too hot
that can dry out the skin and that can
cause you to get cracks in your skin be
really uncomfortable for you so make
sure it's warm and you want to be
careful not to let your scrubs or
anything like that touch the inside of
the sink because it's very dirty and
you'll become contaminated so once your
water is warm you want to wet your wrist
and your hands and be sure you have your
hands lower than your elbows because we
don't want the germs that are already on
our dirty hands to travel up our arms
after you've wet your hands you want to
put the soap on your hands and you're
going to put about 1 teaspoon of soap
which equals about 5 milliliters and a
lot of soap dispensers are automative
and they give you the amount of soap you
need so we're gonna take that soap and
we're going to lather our hands and our
wrists with the soap now we want to
scrub and what we're gonna do is we're
going to scrub this up on our hands
using circular motions because this is
going to help remove those germs and the
things that are sticking to our hands
and we want to cover all the areas of
our hands especially those small
crevices because that's where bacteria
likes the high we're gonna do this for
20 seconds so first we're going to go
and scrub our palms of our hands notice
I'm doing a circular motion then we're
going to get the back of our hands and
do both using those circular motions
then we're going to do our thumbs and
we're going to do each finger
individually making sure we are getting
around the fingernail area as well and
then you want to get those knuckles so
really rub the knuckles up against your
opposite hand it's also going to get the
outside of that finger now
as well then we want to get in between
our fingers because again germs love to
hide in little crevices that are hard to
get to so we make sure we get that then
we're going to pay attention to our
fingernails and we're gonna take our
hand we're gonna go to the opposite hand
and we're gonna just get underneath the
fingernail right in there just scrape
around remove any germs that could be
underneath those fingernails then what
we're going to do is we're going to get
our wrists and go about one inch above
the wrists as well now we are ready to
rinse the soap off so we're just going
to put our hands underneath the water
and let the water go downward we don't
want it to go upward rinsing all of the
soap off from the wrists down to the
fingertips once you get them rinsed you
want to take your paper towel and you're
just going to Pat your hands dry you
don't want to scrub your hands with this
paper towel because that can damage that
top layer of skin and we're going to
discard this wet paper towel then we're
going to grab a dry paper towel and turn
off our faucet and being careful not to
touch the faucet with our clean hands
and then we're going to discard this as
well now we wouldn't have used our wet
paper towel to turn off the faucet
because the germs that are on the
outside of the faucet could have
transferred through that wet paper towel
and got onto our hands and undone the
job of what we just done with cleaning
our hands okay so that wraps up this
video on how to perform hand hygiene
using soap and water thank you so much
for watching and don't forget to
subscribe to our channel for more videos
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