Personal hygiene in the healthcare sector
Microbes spread easily in healthcare due to physical contact between healthcare professionals, patients and relatives. Maintaining a good personal hygiene significantly reduces the risk of cross-contamination and transmission of contagious infections.
According to WHO, hands are the main pathway of germ transmission during healthcare. Good and effective hand hygiene is therefore one of the most important steps to avoid the transmission of harmful germs and prevent healthcare associated infections.
Read more about good hand hygiene here.
Basic guidelines for proper personal hygiene
The definition of good personal hygiene is often subjective, however basic hygienic guidelines for proper hygiene are:
- Avoid hand and/or wrist jewellery as well as piercings (that can come in contact with patients)
- Avoid long nails, nail polish and fake nails
- Always keep hair short, or fixed and beards and mustaches short
- Always use proper coughing and sneezing techniques
- Avoid wearing sleeves that go past the elbow
- If you have an open wound, always use a water resistant band aid so that hands can be wash and disinfected
Pay attention to using correct coughing and sneezing techniques in order to prevent microbes from spreading through the air. The face must always be averted when sneezing or coughing, and it is important to use a paper handkerchief in front of your mouth, or use your elbow. Immediately discard the handkerchief in a waste bin and disinfect your hands.
Hand disinfection or handwashing?
In healthcare, hand disinfection can only stand by itself when the hands are visibly clean and dry, and handwashing should only be performed if the hands are visibly soiled or wet. If the hands need to be washed, they should automatically also be disinfected.
Before applying an alcohol-based disinfectant hands should be dry, as disinfectants increase the skin’s permeability and contribute to breaking down the skins barriers. If the skin’s permeability and suppleness are broken down, the skin can act as an entry port for microbes.
Taking good care of nails and skin
For healthcare professionals, daily procedures of washing, disinfecting and drying can take its toll on the hands and leave the skin dry and chapped. To keep your hands healthy and fit for fight it is important to care for both hands and nails by using lotions, or a moisturizer with a high lipids content during the night if the hands require extra care.
Always asses your hands to keep good hand hygiene:
Gloves are a trusted friend
Gloves should be worn by healthcare professionals when performing tasks related to personal hygiene or handling of bodily fluids. They can be used for clean and unclean tasks to protect both healthcare professionals and patients from transmittable diseases.
Always remember, use of gloves do not replace the need for cleaning your hands!
More on gloves: why gloves are your best friend in fighting infections
ABENA’s 4 tips to help prevent infection
Together we can ensure of a safe workplace by keeping the following tips in mind:
- Avoid cross contamination: Never bring anything contaminated into contact with something clean.
- Clean or discard: What is contaminated must be either cleaned or thrown away.
- Ensure basic hygiene: Apply proper personal - and hand hygiene.
- Protect yourself: Use the right protective wear and the right gloves in the right way.