Hand Washing

1. HAND WASHING
Dr.T.V.Rao MD

2. Definition
• Health Care-associated Infection (HCAI)
– Also referred to as “nosocomial” or “hospital”
infection
• “An infection occurring in a patient during the
process of care in a hospital or other health-care
facility which was not present or incubating at the
time of admission. This includes infections acquired
in the health-care facility but appearing after
discharge, and also occupational infections among
health-care workers of the facility”

3. Prevention of
health care-associated infection
– Validated and standardized prevention
strategies have been shown to reduce HCAI
– At least 50% of HCAI could be prevented
– Most solutions are simple and not resourcedemanding and can be implemented in
developed, as well as in transitional and
developing countries

4. WHY WASH YOUR HANDS ?
• Hand washing is
the single most
effective way to
prevent the
spread of
communicable
diseases.

5. Hand transmission
– Hands are the most
common vehicle to
transmit health careassociated pathogens
– Transmission of
health care-associated
pathogens from one
patient to another via
health-care workers’
hands requires
5 sequential steps

6. The “My 5 Moments for Hand
Hygiene” approach

7. Why should you clean your
hands?
– Any health-care worker, caregiver or person
involved in patient care needs to be
concerned about hand hygiene
– Therefore hand hygiene concerns you!
– You must perform hand hygiene to:
– protect the patient against harmful germs carried
on your hands or present on his/her own skin
– protect yourself and the health-care environment
from harmful germs

9. Hand Washing can prevent
• Good hand
washing can
prevent diseases
such as:
Shigellosis, E. Coli,
Streptococcal
Disease, Influenza
and the Common
Cold

10. Hand hygiene
is the single
most effective
way to prevent
infection
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
10

11. How to clean your hands
– Handrubbing with alcohol-based handrub is the
preferred routine method of hand hygiene if
hands
are not visibly soiled
– Handwashing with soap and water – essential
when
when hands are visibly dirty or visibly soiled
(following visible exposure to body fluids)1
1 If
exposure to spore forming organisms e.g. Clostridium difficile is strongly suspected
or proven, including during outbreaks – clean hands using soap and water

13. How to Hand rub
To effectively reduce
the growth of germs
on
hands, handrubbing
must be performed
by following all of the
illustrated steps.
This takes only 20–
30 seconds!

14. How to hand wash
To effectively reduce
the growth of germs
on hands,
handwashing
must last 40–60
secs
and should be
performed by
following all of the
illustrated steps

15. Alcohol Hand Rubs
• Require less time
• Can be strategically placed
• Readily accessible
• Multiple sites
• All patient care areas

16. Alcohol Hand Rubs
• Acts faster
• Excellent bactericidal activity
• Less irritating (??)
• Sustained improvement

17. Time constraint =
major obstacle for hand hygiene
• Adequate hand washing with
water and soap requires
40–60 seconds
• Average time usually
adopted by healthcare workers:
<10 seconds
• Alcohol-based
• hand rubbing: 20–30
seconds

20. Summary
– HCAI places a serious disease burden and significant
economic impact on patients and health-care systems
– Good hand hygiene – the simple task of cleaning
hands at the right times and in the right way – saves
lives
– There are 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene in Health Care
– Global compliance with the My 5 Moments for Hand
Hygiene approach is universally sub-optimal
– <insert name of facility> has implemented an Action
Plan to improve hand hygiene and reduce infection
– Your support and compliance with the initiatives is
essential to save lives in our facility

21. WHEN SHOULD YOU WASH YOUR HANDS
?
BEFORE YOU:
Prepare or eat food
Treat a cut or wound
Tend to someone who’s sick
Put in or take out contact lenses
Do any kind of activity that involves putting your
fingers in or near your mouth, eyes, etc

22. WHEN SHOULD YOU WASH YOUR HANDS
?
AFTER YOU:
Go to the bathroom
Handle uncooked foods, especially raw meat
Eat
Blow your nose, cough or sneeze
Handle garbage
Tend to someone who is sick
Change a diaper
Play with or touch a pet

23. CORRECT HANDWASHING TECHNIQUE
• Wet hands with warm running water.
• Add soap, then rub hands together to make a soapy lather.
Make sure to wash the front and back of your hands, nails and
nail beds, wrists and between fingers.
• Wash hands for 20 seconds.
• Rinse hands with warm running water with your hands
pointed down.
• Dry hands thoroughly with a clean towel and use that towel to
turn off the water and open the door.

24. Hand Care
• Nails
• Rings
• Hand creams
• Cuts & abrasions
• “Chapping”
• Skin Problems

25. PROPER TECHNIQUE
TO COVER YOUR COUGH and SNEEZE
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you
cough or sneeze.
Then put your tissue in the waste basket

26. Hand hygiene
is the
simplest,
most effective
measure for
preventing
hospitalacquired
infections.

28. • Programme Created by for Benefit
of Medical and Health Care Workers
in the Developing World
• Email
• doctortvrao@gmail.com