from the Vancouver Sun:
Medics 'too busy' to wash hands
Health professionals get too caught up in job demands to be hygienic, infectious disease expert says
Doug Ward
Vancouver Sun
Monday, March 26, 2007
B.C. I Physicians and other health professionals know that hand-washing is important -- but they are often too caught up in the demands of their jobs to get around to it, says an infectious disease expert.
"Studies have shown that the frequency of hand-washing depends on how busy people are," said Dr. Sarah Forgie, an Alberta pediatric infectious disease physician.
"People are in a hurry and they are trying to do their jobs."
An auditor-general's report found that poor hand-washing has led to the spread of superbugs in B.C. hospitals...
"It's something your grandmother always said to do. She was right."
Dr. John Shepherd, vice-president of clinical quality and safety for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said infection control requires a cultural change in major urban hospitals...
Shepherd said that, in some hospitals, physicians and other health care workers wear buttons which say: "Ask me if I washed my hands."
The problem is that it's easy to forget to reach for the soap or hand gel, added Shepherd...
St. Paul's spokesman Shaf Hussein said his hospital has tried to make it more convenient to wash hands by placing sanitizing gel dispensers on walls and also by providing hand gels that can be carried...
Shepherd said that hand-washing is also important at home. "It's a good habit for all of us to get into, especially when it's the infection time of the year with flu season." ...
? The Vancouver Sun 2007
Complete article here:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/....html?id=51873edb-2ea2-4aad-b07c-0621cfc95ca1
Medics 'too busy' to wash hands
Health professionals get too caught up in job demands to be hygienic, infectious disease expert says
Doug Ward
Vancouver Sun
Monday, March 26, 2007
B.C. I Physicians and other health professionals know that hand-washing is important -- but they are often too caught up in the demands of their jobs to get around to it, says an infectious disease expert.
"Studies have shown that the frequency of hand-washing depends on how busy people are," said Dr. Sarah Forgie, an Alberta pediatric infectious disease physician.
"People are in a hurry and they are trying to do their jobs."
An auditor-general's report found that poor hand-washing has led to the spread of superbugs in B.C. hospitals...
"It's something your grandmother always said to do. She was right."
Dr. John Shepherd, vice-president of clinical quality and safety for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said infection control requires a cultural change in major urban hospitals...
Shepherd said that, in some hospitals, physicians and other health care workers wear buttons which say: "Ask me if I washed my hands."
The problem is that it's easy to forget to reach for the soap or hand gel, added Shepherd...
St. Paul's spokesman Shaf Hussein said his hospital has tried to make it more convenient to wash hands by placing sanitizing gel dispensers on walls and also by providing hand gels that can be carried...
Shepherd said that hand-washing is also important at home. "It's a good habit for all of us to get into, especially when it's the infection time of the year with flu season." ...
? The Vancouver Sun 2007
Complete article here:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/....html?id=51873edb-2ea2-4aad-b07c-0621cfc95ca1