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How to wah your hands properly this Global Hand Hygiene Day 2021
Hand washing is very important. It protects you and those around you from all manner of infections and diseases.
This year Covid-19 has brought to the forefront of everyone’s minds just how important it is, so we wanted to introduce you to our Good Oaks Home Care Deputy Manager and trainer Jo Wood, who is going to explain all about how to properly get your hands clean.
May 5th is Global hand Hygiene Day and this year, and every year since the awareness day began in 2009, the message from the World Health Organisation has been: “SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands.” In 2021, the WHO is using the day to urge all health care workers and facilities to ensure they have good hand hygiene at every port of care.
This is to ensure that everyone in the process is safe and protected from germs (of course, including Covid-19.) You can find out more from the WHO here.
Jo said: “For our training we use a UV light to show the places that often get missed when washing our hands. Most people miss under their nails, their thumbs and wrists the first time they do the exercise, so the UV light is a great way to help people see the difference proper hand washing makes. We say that you have to think of germs like glitter, so that everything you touch can transfer the glitter. It’s a good way to make people think about the transfer of germs.
“If there is one good thing to come from the Pandemic, it has been everyone’s increased understanding about good hand hygiene – it really is hugely important. At Good Oaks we train our teams to wash their hands at every point of contact, so before and after entering a client’s home, then putting on PPE, then when they go between different jobs, so if they are helping with medicines, then wash hands and put on more PPE before helping with personal care or making food. Our clients feel reassured knowing we have good practises in place.”
The steps to proper hand washing are:
- Wet hands with water
- Apply soap to your hands – preferably using a pump dispenser and not a bar of soap to reduce contamination.
- Rub hands together, using one hand to rub the back of the other and clean between the fingers.
- Rub the backs of the fingers of the palm of the opposite hand.
- Rub around the thumbs.
- Rub the tips of the fingers on the palm of the other hand to get the fingernails.
- Rinse hands thoroughly with water.
- Dry hands completely with a disposable towel and then use the towel to turn off the tap. (To avoid contamination.)
Top tip:
- Sing Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star twice through while you wash your hands, and that’s about the 20 second time frame you should be washing your hands for.
At Good Oaks we have created the Good Oaks’ Proprietary COVID-19 Secure Standard for Infection Control which goes above and beyond sector guidelines to ensure the utmost COVID-19 Security. These enhanced measures include, but are not limited to, a ‘No Public Transport’ guarantee, temperature checks before carers start placements with clients, enhanced infection control training and full PPE, weekly Covid-19 tests and our COVID-19-secure code of conduct.
At Good Oaks Home Care, we are dedicated to providing home care visits with compassion and dignity. If you would like more information about our care or how you can join our caring team, please contact us here.
