Plastic Surgeons and Hand Washing
Date posted: September 4, 2009I am religious about washing my hands. I don’t do it just after a trip to the restroom, but if I touch anything that might be dirty, being aware of the work I do, I have developed the habit of regular hand hygiene.
I guess I thought this would be true of all plastic surgeons, but apparently not. I just read a survey on the Reuters website that said that, even though plastic surgeons earn their living with their hands, they don’t always keep their hands clean.
This was admittedly a small sample (only 122 plastic surgeons working out of the United States), but still, the results are interesting. Only about half of these surgeons, 53%, said they knew that the best bacteria killing agent is an alcohol-based rub.
They did a bit better when questioned about the best way to manage visibly dirty hands (Soap and water are still the best option there, and something that 75% of the responding plastic surgeons knew).
Surprisingly though, only 42 percent of the plastic surgeons were able to correctly name all situations where they should wash / clean their hands. The same 42 percent said they should do it before and after all contact with patients (Correct) and before and after they use examination gloves (also correct).
If you’re not in a medical field, you might not be aware of just how much hand-washing has come under scrutiny in recent years, with the spreading of dangerous infections in hospitals (Perhaps you remember the MRSA scare of a couple years back). They are by far the most effective way of containing the spread of these kinds of infection.
The Centers for Disease Control has made hand-washing a priority in its guidelines for health professionals, as has the Joint Commission which sponsored this survey.
And it’s not just plastic surgeons who lack hand-washing know-how. Similar studies show that health-care workers’ hand hygiene knowledge in general is poor.
Furthermore, lack of knowledge is only one contributing factor to poor hand hygiene in medical settings. Other problems include a shortage of sinks, heavy workloads, and cleansing products which cause skin irritation.
What all of this means is that education is the first, most basic step in improving the hygiene practices of healthcare workers. However, other steps also need to be taken. Healthcare professionals should be given written guidelines. and should be given both the products and equipment necessary to keep their hands healthy and clean.
2 Comments »Categories: Plastic Surgeons
Oh wow, so much to say here, and so little time and space to say it! LOL!
People who don’t wash their hands are absolutely my biggest pet peeve in life! I’ll watch them sneeze or cough and never go to wash their hands. Even pick their noses without a trip to the restroom! And judging from the number of people I’ve seen in a public restroom with me, who take care of business and leave without a trip to the sink, I’m just really grossed out. Because if this happens every other time that I go to the restroom, then just how many people are there that I NEVER see? Maybe even the ones that I see wash their hands are only doing it because I’m in there, too. What if I wasn’t there?
I certainly am glad that it seems that doctors are more conscious about this essential act of hygiene than the rest of the world. But the fact that there are even a handful of doctors who do not practice correct handwashing is a little disturbing to me! Everyone reading this, please go right now and wash your hands–for the sake of all those around you!
The MRSA scare of just a few years ago seems to have been quickly forgotten. What a shame, since for a few weeks, it actually had people washing their hands. I’m not sure why this is such a hard habit for everyone–doctors and lay people–to adopt. Like you, Dr. Colen, I’m a religious hand-washer. And to be honest, I can’t think of a single good reason to not be! Better to be a bit compulsive than to get sick.
I read an article recently that said that the wide spread of MRSA may have started on beaches (which makes sense when you think of the moist environment there and so much exposed skin). But I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s little to no hand-washing that goes on there. Sad!