On Washing Hands

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On Washing Hands Response The first time reading On Washing Hands, I really didn’t understand what point Gawande was trying to get across. Gawande was listing a bunch of deadly diseases, and I was wondering how they pertained to washing your hands. As you read further, in the short story, the author mentions two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital and ninety thousand die of that infection (Gawande 343). The main cause of this is people not washing their hands. It took me a while to piece together all the information. Many people are infected by the flu, plagues, measles, and many more illness or diseases per year. There is not much people can do to not get sick; but at the hospital there is, and that would be washing your hands. Even though some don’t, doctors should always be washing their hands because they are the ones carrying diseases from patient to patient (Gawande 344). If a doctor sees a patient who has the flu, and doesn’t wash his before he goes to see his next patient, that patient may also get the flu. By being at the hospital, it probably means you are either injured or sick, and your immune system is probably not as strong as it normally is. This means you are more likely to get sick if you are exposed to anything. This is why washing your hands is important no matter where you are or who you are. It will keep you from getting sick and potentially everyone else around you. It doesn’t even take that much time, I don’t understand why some people can’t spend another thirty or so seconds in the bathroom to wash their hands. On Washing Hands is not just directed towards doctors or nurses, but everyone. There are germs everywhere and everyone spreads germs. Almost everywhere you go, you see signs saying “employees must wash their hands”. I think it should also add “it won’t hurt if you do too”, it will make
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