[SmilingBluEyes]

amen lucy!

[Daqueengene]

Originally Posted by SmilingBluEyes

queengene, i have NO issues with a patient or family member asking me if I washed, but I draw the line at wearing a stupid button. I do think it's beneath me.

Smiling I agree that buttons may be a little to much but if it raises awareness than I dont see the problem. Maybe if patients feel free to ask regular staff they will then begin to notice that the physicians too need to heed the call for hand washing.

[ivsandy]

Originally Posted by Daqueengene

Smiling I agree that buttons may be a little to much but if it raises awareness than I dont see the problem. Maybe if patients feel free to ask regular staff they will then begin to notice that the physicians too need to heed the call for hand washing.

Amen to that.I am
ashing my hands all the time where patients and families can see that I care enough to keep us.safer.I also agree that if nurses need to be called on for such a basic "skill" then all those doctors who don't wash thier hands need the same scarlet letters for all to see.

[DG5]

There was an article a few days ago in the local paper (can't locate right now) about Doctors ties being a wonderful place to harbor all kinds of bugs as they often swing down over the patient's beds. What about that??

[SmilingBluEyes]

well maybe they need a button

"HAVE YOU WASHED YOUR TIE?" but let's don't stop there....

we can wear a bunch of buttons:

Have you wiped your stethoscope?
Did you take off your scope coat (a huge wick of infection)?
Have you wiped your equipment throughly?
Have you washed your scrubs ?
Did you wear gloves to start that IV?
Did you cut your nails?

how about a vest with all of them to decorate it and remind us of these things?

Yes, all these things are potential wicks/transmittors of infection. That is why I see the whole button campaign as so silly. We need to get real about causes of infection and address those who are making the problem worse. And that would not just be an issue of nurses washing their hands, as important is that is.

[earle58]

i will go to a reasonable limit, to reassure my pts., i.e., wash my hands in front of them....anything beyond that, especially wearing a stupid button is patronizing, insulting and condescending. nurses get the brunt of everything and this is just one of the many final straws.

[mattsmom81]

Originally Posted by earle58

i will go to a reasonable limit, to reassure my pts., i.e., wash my hands in front of them....anything beyond that, especially wearing a stupid button is patronizing, insulting and condescending. nurses get the brunt of everything and this is just one of the many final straws.

I agree, and was reminded of this thread the other night when my administrators were pushing me to admit into a dirty VRE room that hadn't yet been cleaned. They acted like they didn't know or didn't care that no housekeeper was on duty on midnites to adequately disinfect this room, nor did I have acess to the proper equipment/supplies to terminally clean a VRE room myself.

So...where's the facility priority really??? How many timea have the rest of ya'll been pushed to admit to an infectious room or place infectious patients with noninfectious patients for the hospital's benefit? How many times have your supervisors turned a blind eye to isolation concerns, lack of supplies and staff? It's a constant battle for me...

If they gave me a button I'd be sorely tempted to tell them where to put it.

[teeituptom]

is it a cute or a ugly button

[NursesRmofun]

Originally Posted by Torachan

agree wholeheartedly with lisaloulou......... what these badges are saying is that it is the nurses who are the cuplrets. No-one else. As a guy I can assure you that not many of us wash our hands after using the loo...... I do but not many do. That is a fact.

I would hope nurses that happen to be male would wash there hands after the bathroom. <sigh>

[bukko]

Originally Posted by NursesRmofun

I would hope nurses that happen to be male would wash there hands after the bathroom. <sigh>

That reminds me of a military joke. A Navy officer and a Marine sargeant were taking care of business in a ship's urinal. The officer was washing up afterward and saw the Marine simply walking out of the head. The officer called out "Didn't your mother teach you to wash your hands after that?" "No sir," the Marine fired back, "She taught me not to pee on my fingers."