What do you do when you see this??

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Occ health, Med/surg, ER.

When I assisst patients to the restroom, I noticed that many of them would not wash their hands!! You can wash wash wash YOUR hands, but what if the patient doesnt even bother to wash their own???

What are your "polite" ways to tell the patient to wash their hands?? :lol2:

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.

no obvious "dirt" on their hands. You can simply turn on the sink and say "let's wash your hands now". You can also hand them a warm, soapy wash cloth after they get back into bed. Especially when someone is sick, their normal habits fly out of the window when they just want to get back into bed.

If they are able to manage in the bathroom themselves, I'd just nicely remind them. If they need help with toileting more than walking them in and arranging the IV pole, then they probably need the direction and the help washing up afterwards.

Blee

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Not a nurse yet, but I would say something like "I'll help you stand here so that you can wash your hands, or I can bring you a washcloth so that you can do it too. Which would you rather do?"

I know that post surgery, it can take all you've got just to get to the toilet and back to the bed. When standing after a big abdominal surgery, it feels like your guts are going to just fall out (not to mention the pain), and I don't blame people who want to quickly get back into bed.

Ones with lesser problems, or ones several days post-op don't have a good excuse, other than it's a bad habit and need a gentle reminder.

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Specializes in Ortho/Neuro.

I will bring them a washcloth or get them some of the hand sanitizer gel. I also always provide them with these things before meals.

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Specializes in Occ health, Med/surg, ER.
no obvious "dirt" on their hands.

Blee

No OBVIOUS "dirt" on their hands???? HUH??

Normal habits, hmmm......Im going to have to say, nope. I wash my hands even better when I'm sick....even before I was a nurse... Maybe not brush my hair or put on make up, but wash my hands after the restroom, always...LOL :lol2:

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Specializes in med/surg.
I will bring them a washcloth or get them some of the hand sanitizer gel. I also always provide them with these things before meals.

Yup, this is exactly what I do too!

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Specializes in Occ health, Med/surg, ER.

Yeah, usually I just have the soapy/wet wipes ready now, instead of asking.

Ive noticed that many people dont like the gel.

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

We have those great smelling pre-lotioned wipes and the patients love them! We also have them in a warmer so they are nice and warm! PRRRRRRR. I will typically offer one after tolieting if they by passed the sink ;).

I also try to have warm wash cloths ready for before a meal. I think my pts feel spoiled when I do that, and that is easy enough to do ;)! Like being first class on a plane or something..LOL. Plus, heck...I like it too!!!!!!

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I usually ofer to stand by with them so they can wash. If not, I also offer a washcloth with soap and warm water.

Just common courtesy. ;)

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Specializes in CICu, ICU, med-surg.

I also provide my pts with a warm washcloth after toileting if they didn't stop at the sink. I usually find this a whole lot easier for everyone, especially if they've got a lot of lines, tubes, etc.

I agree with the poster who said that a lot of usual habits fly out the window when you're hospitalized. I think most people just want to get back into bed as quickly as possible, so they sort of forget the importance of washing their hands after using the toilet.

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Specializes in orthopaedics.

my kids, nieces and nephews call me the hand washing natzi. this is a big pet peeve of mine. i have no bones about gently reminding a patient to wash their hands after using the restroom. if the pt. is post op let them know how important it is to keep their hands clean to avoid contamination of the op site. if this is any pt just remind them of the importance. this is a part of teaching. many of the hospitals have small bottles of purell that you can give to the pt. to keep at the bedside.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.
I usually ofer to stand by with them so they can wash. If not, I also offer a washcloth with soap and warm water.

Just common courtesy. ;)

Yep...that's usually what I do. If they don't stop at the sink to wash up, then I get them the washcloth after they're back in their chair or in bed. Most of the pts I work with are elderly dears and very weak so even standing a short time at the sink will take a lot out of them.

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