WEARING GLOVES IS PART OF HAND HYGIENE – ISSUE NO. 51

To many, hand hygiene only means cleaning or washing ones hands. In fact, we had a story this week on hand hygiene and it got me to thinking about what hand hygiene is to me. I think of it in a broader sense, it should entail anything to do with hand care (washing, gloving, etc.). Today everybody has some type of "hand sanitizer" on them. Hospitals have "hand sanitizers" as you walk in and remained you to "squirt" some on your hands before you do anything. I was in the hospital recently and I saw "spies" walking around observing how both staff and family members practice "hand hygiene". I think that is a great way to see how compliant staff is with hand hygiene policies and also how effective teaching family members the importance of proper hand hygiene is. As I stated earlier hand hygiene is more than washing ones hands. With that said, I remember "back in the day" not wearing gloves as much as I do today. Why, not sure, but today I wear gloves all the time. I cannot believe how much smarter I have become over the years. One of the areas that is always a concern when it comes to protecting your hands is the decontamination area. Having a glove that fits correctly and is long enough to protect past the wrist and is latex free is hard to find. Most gloves that are latex free are only 12 inches long. See the coupon below for a solution.