Patients are told to ask nurses: have you washed?

Ok, no problem with the handwashing issue. I make sure I wash my hands every time I enter a patient's room and a whole bunch of times in between. I also wouldn't mind if they questioned me on that matter but I refuse to wear a stupid button regarding it. How embarrassing!!! What are they going to think of next? That is an insult to us nurses to have to wear a badge asking patients to ask us about our hygiene. Pretty sad I must say.

What about the fingernails issue? I was in the hospital last year when I had my son (the hosp. I work for) and I had a nurse that came in with these claws that were brightly painted. A few hours later she came in and I smelled something funky when she was taking my baby's temp and I looked over and she had removed her polish..obviously not washing her hands after taking it off..then at the end of her shift she came back in with new polish on. There should be a rule against that..fingernails are disgusting and there is no way to get all the crap out from underneath them. I try to keep mine fairly trimmed since most everywhere I have worked that has been a requirement. I know I should have reported her but I was too busy with my new little one. So maybe that can be a new button to wear "ask me if I trimmed my fingernails today?"

ug long fingernails on nurses....ick.

thankfully, where I work, infection control has written strict policies regarding finger nails and polish. that would be trimmed and NO polish.

[quote=SmilingBluEyes]ug long fingernails on nurses....ick.

It still pains me to think of the LD nurse with long nails who checked my dilation and effacement...

I think it is management that has a problem. Any nurse who would wear such a badge and not feel insulted has a problem. I am a professional, my JOB is to teach health practices. I can't teach if you (the patient) are too busy asking if I practice what I preach.....think about it.

1) Do they ask docs and other healthcare workers the same thing?
and
2) In my hospital, we no longer wash our hands. We use a cleanser from a pump bottle, something you don't wash off. The pts often don't see us do this, since the bottle is outside the rooms.

Right On SISTER!!! sometimes I think we do the things we do to hopefully shame the physicians into better practice. I work with urologists daily who dont even wash their hands before cysto cases. They walk right in and put on gown and gloves. I even had one ask me to pick something up off the floor that fell so he could use on a pt to save money from having to open another one. I constantly ask them if they are going to wash their hands and they say it isnt steril anyway, and we do this in the office with out washing ,so why do it here. Sometimes I think I will explode with these lame an excuses. Nothing gets done tho our manager wont make them wash and everyone else thinks that the Dr knows everything. Oh well! I try in my own way continuing to wash when I am scrubbing in cysto and trying to be an example. I always thought that steril technique was important when entering the bladder and urinary system but as I see it in the real world sometimes anything goes and you can bet if the Dr doesnt think washing is important them you are hard pressed to get staff to believe that it is an important thing to do.

Hey, just so you know, that sanitizer is NOT meant to replace handwashing, esp in soiled hands. When I begin my shift, I do a full hand, lower arm and nail scrub, to remove anything I am bringing in from the "street". I do this EVERY time I enter work.

Also, I still wash between all patient contacts, upon entry to the patient's room, where they can SEE I am doing it. And, if handling newborns, after I wash, I then use the sanitizer to make extra-sure I am safe for them.

office space is CLASSIC and one of the funniest movies ever!

i just had a question for the nurses... are you allowed to wear your wedding rings at work?

LOL. i really liked that one. we do need that and i bet they would take it really good and so would jhaco.