Hand Washing versus Alcoholic Hand Rubs - Case Study Example

Hand washing vs. alcoholic hand rubs Surname, Name Professor Course Institution Date Introduction Hand hygiene is the most significant factor that is usually considered in an attempt to prevent nosocomial infections (Pieper, 2009). This is because it has been proved to be effective in preventing bacterial infections by contact method. It is hence the primary ingredient of any pathogen infection control plan. For a long time, washing of hands with soap has been the most popular and widely adopted form of hand hygiene. Patients in hospitals and students in school have been encouraged to wash their hands in order to protect themselves from fecal-oral route infections (Perttie, 2010). On the contrary, research shows that even with the high rate of people washing their hands, the rate of E-coli infection among patients in hospitals in some hospitals is still as high as 11% to 17%. This shows that even though washing hands using antiseptic soaps is being encouraged in some part of the world, it is not the most effective way of preventing infections. In the recent past, scientific research and innovations have proved that the use of alcoholic hand rubs to prevent infections is more efficient than using antiseptic soaps to wash hands. A case study Moocoli care centre, in Africa, is host to an average of 300 patients, mostly the aged. In the last two years, the centre has realized an increase in the rate of infection of E-coli and other fecal-oral route infections (Perttie, 2010). The centre, on the other hand, has been one of the major promoters of hand washing in Africa, as a way of preventing infections. It has even lounged a regional campaign to encourage hand washing. Patients in the centre are usually under tight observations, and they have ben trained to wash their hands with antiseptic soap, as a way of preventing infections by contact (Kannal, 2007). The centre has its sinks centrally located. Each sink had a cold water tap and a bar ant-bacterial soap for washing hands. This centre has even been awarded for advocacy in hand hygiene because of this. However, the number of deaths due to infections by contact had started to increase at an alarming rate. This forced the national health council to conduct a survey on the cause of the deaths. It was a difficult task establishing the cause since all facilities were discovered to be in excellent conditions. They decided to taste E-coli; it was realized that most patients had been affected by the pathogen, despite the fact thy always washed their hands with soap. An American student, who was carrying out her research around Africa then proposed to the centre to adopt the use of alcoholic hand rubs, as an alternative to washing hands. At first, it was met with a lot of reluctance, but after the centre gave it a try, it was amazed by the effects (Kannal, 2007). The number of deaths due to infections was reduced immensely. It immediately stopped its campaign for washing hands with soap and started advocating for hand rubs. It even decided to promote alcoholic hand rubs from one company. Literature review and critique The principle of hand washing is a long policy that was first publicly established by scientist Semmelweis, in the year 1947 (Mayer, 2007). However, as years went by, it was realized that hand washing was not as effective as it was though to be, because even with intensive hand washing using antiseptic soaps, the rate of bacterial infections was still considerably high. In the year 2009, this principle was under challenge from Roberts. It was observed that anti-septic soaps were not medically and scientifically proven to kill all types of germ; some germs can resist them. It was also argued that resistant pathogens can stick on the surface of soap and will infect any person who uses that soap to clean hands. The use of alcoholic hand rubs has been proven to be scientifically safe. It does not only kill all pathogens but also saves time and reduces the risks of infections by contact o almost 0.001%. Microbiologists have proved that is highly effective especially in vitro and vivo. In most part of Europe and America, hand washing can only be used if the hands are soiled, but under normal circumstances, a hand rub is encouraged. The importance of maintaining hand hygiene by the use of alcohol hand rubs was also conducted by a group of student s from the University of Oxford (Sanchez, 2011). They compared the use of medicated soaps and the alcohol hand rub. It was established that alcohol hand rubs are more than ten times effective than medicated soaps, in preventing infections by conduct method. Currently, after full prove of the effectiveness of alcoholic hand rubs, the core challenge facing medical professionals is not whether alcoholic hand rubs are sure, but how fast the use of alcoholics hand rubs can be adopted in the world, to replace the use of soap to wash hands. Some clinical settings were found to be encouraging the use of gloves. This may be effective to some extent, though it is highly dangerous. Gloves do not kill pathogens. AS much as they may be thought to reduce the rate of infections, wearing the same pair of gloves over a log period is not encouraged (Mayer, 2007). There is the possibility that pathogens can stick on the skin and still be there even after the gloves are removed. Alcohol sanitizers are hence best among all these methods. This may be supported by the fact they are easily portable and do not require water, since they usually evaporate after killing germs. It should be noted that soap can only be effective with the use of hot water as a catalyst. Integrating theory and practice The use of medicated soap, however, is not particularly infective in killing germs, since there are some soaps that have been manufactured with the right ant-bacterial contents that ensure germs are killed (Middlewwod & Lumby, 2009). However, washing of hands in hospitals comes with many challenges. On several occasions, nurses ignore washing their hands while handling several patients, hence increasing the chances of spreading infections by contact from one patient to another. They do not wash their hands because they have a lot of work load and in most hospitals; sinks are centrally and inappropriately located, which makes it a waste of time for doctors and nurses to keep washing their hands after handling every patient. Patients may also ignore washing their hands because sinks are either dirty or far away (Pieper, 2009). The other reason why people may ignore washing hands in the clinical set-up is because they feel that their hands are not soiled; hence do see the reason of washing their hands, because they feel they are not dirty. Some people have allergic problems and will also avoid washing their hands with soap because of the problems of skin irritation. This will increase the risks of infections in hospitals. A study of a maternity clinic showed that it took at least 67 seconds for a nurse to go to the sinks and wash her hands. Alcoholic hand rubs may take a minimum of two to three seconds to kill germs and leave the hands clean, which makes them time saving. They do not irritate the skin and evaporate within a remarkably short time. Reviewing Moocoli care centre, we discover that although they may have been on the forefront to try to advocate for the use of soaps to wash hands, they did not do it in the right way. Soap is efficient with hot water (Hermann & Obeid, 2011). However, the care centre used cold water to wash hands, hence making the soap less effective. It is also recommended that after washing hands on a sink, one not touch the tap directly; a paper towel should be used, to avoid contracting infections due to pathogens that may have been left on the tap by another person, who may have touched the tap with dirty hands. Moocoli care centre has its sinks located at one central place, and each sink has a bar soap for washing hands. This is highly in-hygienic, considering that it has over 300 patients, who suffer from different illnesses. Using of bar soaps is far much dangerous in a clinical environment; some bacteria are a highly resistant and can stick on the bar soaps (Sanchez, 2011). The soaps may then have a variety of bacteria, which may infect other patients who may use the soap. The fact that the soap may have various bacteria from infected people may be a potential reason for the development of a complicated infection in the care centre (Pieper, 2009). It is even worse because the taps had cold water, which means that even though the centre used medicated soap for washing hands, the anti-septic effect of the soaps was never brought to full effect; hot water catalyses medicated soaps to kill germs. Recommendations Clinical health centres should be encouraged to adopt the use alcoholic hand rubs\, as opposed to the traditional method of using water and soap to wash hands. This should then be made to cross over to homes and other public areas that serve many people, including public toilets. However, there is a consideration that some centre like schools may not readily have the funds to introduce alcoholic hand rubs. Such places should take the initiative to train their member on the effectiveness of washing their hands well with soap and hot water. They should then make sure that they have hot water tap systems in place and anti-septic water dispensers. Governments should also ensure that they participate in encouraging their citizen to adopt the use of alcoholic hand rubs. This should start by such governments offering to fund the introduction of alcoholic hand wash dispensers in public facilities and offering subsidies for all alcoholic hand rubs, so that people can find them fair to buy. References Kannal, J. R. 2007.Antenatal Care; Teaching Pregnant Women the right way. London: Oxford Press. Middlewood, D., and Lumby, J. 2009. Introducing Alcoholic Hand Rubs in Health Care Centres. California: Sage publishers. Perttie, M.Y. 2010. Adopting Good Hygiene in Clinical Health Centres. London: Cengage Learning. Pieper, R. 2009. Benefits of using Alcoholic Hand Wash Over Soap and Water. London: Walter de Gruyter. Sanchez, I. J. 2011. Health Care; Avoiding Infections Through Contact. New York: Lammers Press. Hermann, W., & Obeid, R. 2011. Environmental Prevention of Human Diseases, 19-23. New York: Cengage Publishers. Mayer, R.C. et. al. 2007. Effectiveness of Alcoholic Hand Rubs,102-117. London: Prentice Hall Read More