Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 11th April 2024 Issue no. 1109
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Today is World Hand Hygiene Day
Today is World Hand Hygiene Day and hospitals in Australia are planning to spread the word about maintaining good hand hygiene, while the topic is at the forefront of people's minds.
The Advocate reports that infection prevention & control nurse Heather Craigie (pictured) is manning a stall at the entrance of the Mersey Community Hospital in Latrobe, Tasmania, today, with a view to inviting visitors and staff to use the alcohol-based hand rub provided at the hospital, and then use a special UV illuminate gel to test their hands to see how well they have tackled the germs.
Heather says it's all about showing people the correct way to apply the alcohol rub to ensure that all the germs are dealt with before entering the hospital ward.
"We'll be there to help and to check and see if people are doing it right," she says. "It's a pretty simple message for people to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones."
Heather claims that a lot of us would be surprised at some of the areas that are missed when we wash our hands. Apparently we do a good job with the palms of our hands, but areas including the backs of the fingers, back of the dominant thumb and in between the fingers is often missed - leaving germs and dirt free to continue lurking there.
"Everybody probably thinks they're doing a really good job, and a lot of them would be, but they're always curious to know if their own technique is working," she adds.
Image courtesy of Cordell Richardson
5th May 2016