Handwashing and Hand Sanitizer (Nursing)

00:04 Now let's talk about the skill hand hygiene with soap and water.

00:08 Now, you may think, okay.

00:10 Okay, well we're going to use soap and water, right.

00:12 But there is different forms of hand hygiene.

00:15 So let's talk about this one.

00:17 Soap and water is really important when your hands are really visibly soiled.

00:21 Also, there are some certain superbugs, we like to call them that after you're leaving that room, you definitely have to use soap and water, not just that hand sanitizer, you may see in the hospital.

00:33 Now, what are you going to need? So mild soap is ideal.

00:37 Also warm running water.

00:39 We also want paper towels or something like that, that we can dispose of after we're done.

00:45 Now, it's a good idea to remove jewelry.

00:47 So this can be a little scary, so just keep that in mind.

00:51 Sometimes I'll tell you as a nurse when I first got a ring, I actually lost it.

00:56 So keep that in mind in regard to what you wear in the healthcare setting.

01:00 The other thing to think about is if you're wearing a ring or certain side of jewelry or watches, for example, in the healthcare field, and you're coming in contact with patients, that stuff can actually harbor a lot of bacteria.

01:13 So you may want to consider removing some of this or maybe doing an alternative.

01:18 Make sure you adjust the water temperature to a comfortable temperature really, we don't want it too cold, we want it warm, we also don't want to scold our hands.

01:28 So then wet your hands and apply your soap.

01:31 Now you want to be really vigorous in rubbing your hands together for at least 20 seconds.

01:36 Sometimes you may hear the "Okay, you can sing 'Happy Birthday' three times", whatever works for you.

01:43 Now we want to rinse our hands angle downward.

01:45 And then we're going to use those paper towels to dry those hands thoroughly.

01:50 Now after we do that, it's easy to think, "Okay, well my hands are clean, just turn it off, use the paper towel itself to turn off that faucet." So before I get started, make sure you remove your jewelry.

02:06 Now I've got my ring on here, I'm going to take this off.

02:09 Now one thing to notice what I like to do, this is like rubber silicone, something like that this is really easy to clean.

02:17 Also, it doesn't have a lot of detail or stones or anything like that, that can harbor a lot of bacteria.

02:23 So just something to think about.

02:26 Now I want to adjust my water temperature and then wet my hands.

02:37 Once I've wet my hands thoroughly now I can apply my soap.

02:42 So now that I've got my soap, now I'm going to rub my hands together for 20 seconds.

02:47 So the friction part is the most important.

02:50 Notice I'm rubbing vigorously interlacing my fingers.

02:54 It's a great idea also to take each hand and just kind of rub the nails in between each one to get all that area.

03:02 Don't forget the back of the hand and the wrists.

03:07 So once I've done that, you could also take that 20 seconds and maybe sing 'Happy Birthday' for three times, whatever works for you.

03:14 Now I want to rinse my hands angled downward, and then we're going to dry.

03:29 Now, I'm going to take my paper towel.

03:31 Dry my hands and all the way down to my wrist.

03:35 Really important to make sure we don't let excess moisture sit on our hands.

03:39 This can definitely make chafing occur much more frequently with your hands.

03:44 Now I'm going to take those same paper towels and turn off the faucet.

03:49 You can imagine how many people probably use that sink.

03:52 So that's a great way to reduce infection.

03:58 Now let's look at hand hygiene with hand sanitizer.

04:02 So let's think about when can we do this.

04:04 So it's best to use hand sanitizer when maybe before entering or exiting the room.

04:09 Also, when your hands are not visibly soiled or if you really didn't come in contact with any major blood or body fluids, hand sanitizer is acceptable.

04:20 So what you're going to need is your alcohol based hand sanitizer or whatever your facility has.

04:26 So how are we going to do this, just apply this to your hand.

04:29 And again, make sure you rub your hands together to cover all surfaces.

04:33 So we're talking about is in between our fingers, backside of our hands all the way on our wrist.

04:39 Be really thorough here and that friction is really what's going to help cut down germs.

04:45 So you want to do this for about like 30 seconds until it dries.

04:49 Some hand sanitizers are more wet than others.

04:51 So again, make sure you rub vigorously until that dries.

05:00 Now let's take a look at using hand sanitizer.

05:03 So before we get started, we've got to apply it to one hand.

05:15 So now I want to rub my hands together to cover all surfaces.

05:20 Now we want to make sure we rub our hands together until hand sanitizer dries.

05:25 So again, you want to make sure you do your palms, interlace your fingers.

05:29 Make sure you get by your nails, a great idea.

05:33 And the back of your hands is also really important.

05:36 Now note, don't neglect your wrist as well.

05:39 And again, that friction is really important when we're talking about hand sanitizing.

05:43 And if you guys remember, when we're talking about hand sanitizer, we're going to do this when your hands aren't really visibly soiled with maybe stool or feces or blood.

05:54 This is really great when you're entering or exiting the room.

05:58 Or if you just come in contact with the patient, but again with no body fluids.