Hand Hygiene Essay

908 Words4 Pages
Hand hygiene Hand washing for hand hygiene is the act of cleaning one's hands with or without the use of water or another liquid, or with the use of soap, for the purpose of removing soil, dirt, and/or microorganisms. Hand hygiene is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and others from cross infection. To do this wash hands regularly and effectively. There are some germs on our hands which we carry but they protect us and do no cause any risk. As we work around clients and patients regularly, hands will pick up lots of germs, which can cause harm if they come into contact with people. Hand hygiene is aimed at reducing germs carried as much as possible. Hand hygiene not only includes our hands but drying them thoroughly, there are also alchahol gel and antibacterial gels that can be used instead of hand washing. Washing your hands will remove germs, but if you don’t dry your hands correctly leave them damp, more germs will attach themselves, which will mean you will have to re-wash hands. The diagram shows parts of the hand which are missed when not washed correctly, too fast and not dried effectively as shown in the diagram, the fingertips and thumbs are the most missed parts that are not washed correctly on the hands. These parts of the hands make the most frequent contact with people and surfaces. Hand hygiene can be performed by using different methods using these hand hygiene washing solutions, but it’s important to first remove wrist watches, other jewellery and roll up sleeves, so you can clean the skin effectively. Soap and detergents Removal of microorganisms from skin is enhanced by the addition of soaps or detergents to water the main action of soaps and detergents are to reduce barriers to solution, and increase solubility. Water is an inefficient skin cleanser because fats and proteins, which are components of organic soil,
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