Would you be insulted if.....

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Sep 23, 2011

Nope, I wouldn't be insulted at all - especially not if the patient was not in a position to have seen me wash my hands. With so many infections floating around hospitals today if I were the patient I would want to know too.

littlewingrn · Sep 23, 2011

I wouldn't be. I have witnessed numerous people NOT wash their hands between patients ranging from support staff to docs. It is nothing personal at all. The public is just more informed, as they (and we) should be. As far as asking about meds, etc. Wouldn't you want to know what was being given to you and why?

A nurse friend of mine went to an ER for abdominal pain and hx of kidney stones. She has an allergy to a med (forgot which one). Nurse comes in to administer pain meds to her and nurse friend asks what is being given. Nurse states "It is the good stuff" and pushes it via IV. Before nurse friend could say anything to confirm the allergy, she is loopy. This type of situation is exactly why we should all ask about meds and procedures (and completely unprofessional behavior by administering nurse). It doesn't matter if the patient is a nurse or whatever. Everyone has a right to know what is being done to them.

I would not be offended at all.

FancypantsRN · Sep 23, 2011

I wouldn't be offended if a pt or family member asked me this. With all the hospital acquired infections it's a valid concern.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 23, 2011

Not at all.

MomRN0913 · Sep 23, 2011

me, personally, I am all about being an advocate for your own care.

Sometimes I just see it as a "given" for me personally to make sure my hands are washed, it's second nature. So, yeah, i wouldn't be insulted.

jesskidding, LPN · Sep 23, 2011

No. I would not be offended. In fact there are signs all over my hospital encouraging patients and their family members to ask anyone who is part of their care if they have washed their hands. We also do the "foam in, foam out" and they can ask about that as well.

Wouldn't you want to be sure if you were a patient? Trust me, not every member of the healthcare team follows proper hand washing policies.

We also have "secret hand washing police" at our hospital. It changes monthly and they secretly watch the staff around them and report necessary infractions.

systoly · Sep 23, 2011

I'd commend the family and make sure they knew not to turn the faucet off with their clean hands. Discussing Rx et tx is great. It not only shows a real interest, but it's a great way to establish rapport.

littlewingrn, your friends story hit home. ' went to an oral surgeon, nurse starts giving me Rx per IV and when I asked, "what are you giving me", she replies, "Medicine". I pinched the line, threatened to D/C it myself and walk out of the office. I don't have allergies, but I do have sensitivities and intolerances. Anyway, dentist calmed me down and assigned another nurse to me.

pc2801 · Sep 23, 2011

Not at all. I'm waiting to start school in January and had a recent hospital stay. My previous experience staying with my boyfriend when he had surgery, there was a sink in his room where every person who came in contact with him washed their hands before approaching his bedside. In my hospital stay there was no sink in the room and I couldn't see if the nurses had washed their hands before entering. There was a wall mounted hand sanitizing foam I could see from my bed, but I never saw anyone use it.

I had to question the night nurse the first time she handed me my pills. She said she was giving me my Percocet and handed me a cup with an extra pill that was orange. I stopped her and said what is the orange pill? She told me it was Colace and then I was fine taking the pills, but she was just kind of on auto-pilot scanning and passing until I questioned what I'd been handed.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Sep 23, 2011

A patient or a family member asked you if you washed your hands?
I was reading Redbook magazine and there was this little section saying how you can prevent medical errors and infections (this is from a patients point of view) by asking your nurse or doctor if they washed their hands and by questioning the meds and treatments in case they were unecessary.
While I do believe in asking about the meds you are recieving and the treatments ( I believe in being an advocate for yourself, but not playing doctor to yourself), the first thing I learned in Nursing school was handwashing. I don't touch a patient without washing my hands if I have been with another patient or touching handling something like blood or even medications. It's like asking me if I was doing something very basic in my job that is a given. But I can understand where the patient is coming from I guess.
Would you be insulted?

Nope, but to avoid a patient even having to ask, I do it in front of them whenever possible.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2011

I would not be offended at all. What I do find offensive is the buttons that I have heard some hospitals require nurses to wear that state "Ask me if I've washed my hands"...well that sure must inspire confidence!

If a patient cares enough about the quality of their care to ask, I am proud of them and will assume that they will be as involved in other aspects of their care and recovery. But when the hospital who hired me, presumably because they think I know what I am doing, recruits patients to be the handwashing police...then I have a problem with that.

palemoon · Sep 23, 2011

Nope. They're not implying that I did or did not, they just want to know. Nothing insulting about it.