I'm supposed to wear an "Ask me if I washed my hands!" button?!

or maybe they need another call button
that says Call if your nurse doesnt wash their hands for you.

Why don't we all wear buttons that are equally as important like:
"Ask me if I wore my seatbelt when I drove to work today?"
"Ask me if I did my patient identifiers today before each med pass"
"Ask me if I know why I'm giving this med to you today"
"Ask me if I know the correct way to give CPR"
.......I could go on.

A button does NOT a safe practice make.

Can we ask the patient to wash their hands before they touch us, after using the bathroom or before they eat? Of course not.

Patients with poor hand hygiene MUST account for a great deal of infectious disease in the hospital--think about all they touch (and their visitors).

I am 100% compliant mainly to protect myself.

We had this request made also. The nurses on my unit rebelled and did't wear thme. We did't get the icecream party

Think about how many patients you help to the bathroom only to be told lafterwards that they don't *need* to wash their hands?!? "Um, yeah, you do."

I swear some of them act like they've never heard of the concept of soap and water.

It's not the "innocent little button". It's the symbolism. Wearing such a button tells the public that nurses are second-class citizens on a par with Wal-Mart greeters, that we aren't smart enough to do our jobs without having to be reminded, that we're not the educated professional people we claim to be. Have you ever seen a teacher, a police officer, or a doctor wearing such a thing? No, and you're not likely to either, because those professionals take pride in their dignity and worth. It's high time we did the same for ourselves, and refuse to be treated like children.

And that's all I have to say about that.