Wedding rings and hospital- acquired infection

Bernthal, Elizabeth

doi:10.7748/ns.11.43.44.s50

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Higher microbial counts after washing are found in health workers who prefer not to remove rings,11 and may put the patient at risk for a nosocomial infection 12. The value of surgical scrubbing using a brush is questioned.…”

Section: Hand Washingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health professional’s role in preventing nosocomial infections

Saloojee

Steenhoff

2001

Postgraduate Medical Journal

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Despite their best intentions, health professionals sometimes act as vectors of disease, disseminating new infections among their unsuspecting clients. Attention to simple preventive strategies may significantly reduce disease transmission rates. Frequent hand washing remains the single most important intervention in infection control. However, identifying mechanisms to ensure compliance by health professionals remains a perplexing problem. Gloves, gowns, and masks have a role in preventing infections, but are often used inappropriately, increasing service costs unnecessarily. While virulent microorganisms can be cultured from stethoscopes and white coats, their role in disease transmission remains undefined. There is greater consensus about sterile insertion techniques for intravascular catheters-a common source of infections-and their care. By following a few simple rules identified in this review, health professionals may prevent much unnecessary medical and financial distress to their patients.

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Section: Hand Washingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health professional’s role in preventing nosocomial infections

Saloojee

Steenhoff

2001

Postgraduate Medical Journal

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“…The association between hand hygiene and prevention of infection has been well recognized 3 and anti‐microbial hand washes are in common use in institutions such as hospitals and the food industry 4–6 . These products have more recently become available for use in the domestic home and are marketed using claims that they are ‘twice as effective as ordinary soap’ and ‘more effective at removing germs than conventional soaps’, and that they ‘kill E. coli the toilet germ’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐microbial hand washes for domestic use – their effectiveness in vitro and in normal use

Sharp

Haysom

Parkinson

2001

Int J Consumer Studies

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The killing or removal of microbes from the hands is a critical factor in food safety as many studies have shown the hands to be both an important source of microbes and powerful agents of cross‐contamination in hospital and domestic situations. In response to this concern, a number of novel hand‐washing products have appeared on the market. These products contain anti‐microbial agents and claim to be more effective at removing bacteria than soap bars and conventional liquid soaps. This study attempts to test these claims by comparing the effectiveness of a conventional soap bar, a conventional liquid soap and an anti‐microbial liquid soap containing triclosan. In vitro tests demonstrate that the anti‐microbial liquid soap is more effective than conventional liquid soaps in reducing the viability of six bacterial species and that this effect is both time and dose dependent. However, when the three soaps were compared for their ability to reduce microbial counts on the hands no differences were observed between the three products. For all three soaps, counts after washing sometimes went up and sometimes down when compared with pre‐wash counts. This was the case both when the soaps were used ‘normally’– that is, with great variation in the time taken, water and soap volumes used and method of washing and after a standardized, rigorous wash recommended in clinical situations. Furthermore, reduction in microbial counts from hands contaminated by handling raw meat was no greater for the anti‐microbial than for the conventional liquid soap.

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“…If religious or cultural influences strongly condition the HCW's attitude, the wearing of a simple wedding ring (band) during routine care may be acceptable, but in high-risk settings, such as the operating theatre, all rings or other jewellery should be removed. 969 A simple and practical solution allowing effective hand hygiene is for HCWs to wear their ring(s) around their neck on a chain as a pendant.…”

Section: Jewellerymentioning

confidence: 99%