Patients are told to ask nurses: have you washed?

I think it's great that someone came up with the idea of promoting handwashing.
Too many nurses become lax and tend to not be as stringent with handwashing as they may have been while in school. I know I would probably tend to slack off after a few years......I think it would be only natural. When you're given a reason to be kept on your toes about PT care, you're forced to remember about how important it is to do something so simple.
I wouldn't say I'd be thrilled about having posters up and all, but I wouldn't take offense if I had Patients asking if I washed my hands...................
Seriously....go to a restroom and count how many people (especially men)wash their hands WITH SOAP afer using it.............................it'll be a scary wake up call.

You will do well grasshopper...you definitely have learned how to talk the talk of the nurse administrator.

What about cleaning the heads on stethescopes between patients? What do you think about going into a room and listening to abdominal surgeries with them, then going to the next room without any disinfectant? Is it any worse than not washing your hands?

I wipe the head of my stethy with an alcohol pad several times a shift. (And the ear pieces too, but with a different pad.) I also have a strong motivation to wash my hands frequently because every time I touch a patient, I feel somewhat dirtied from that. I mean, my hands touched them, and then I might touch my face or some food with those mitts? Eeeew! (And no, I am not phobic...)

On a related note, what about the implications of using the same BP cuff from patient to patient to patient?

All those things mentioned (the stethoscope and BP cuff) are also infection control issues that contribute to the high infection rates in hospitals. Most hospitals I've worked at have disposable cuffs and I've always wiped down my stethoscope with alcohol b/t patients. But these are still separate issues from the handwashing.

If infection rates were low, I'd be inclined to agree with many of you who are against this campaign. But with infections being SO HIGH, clearly something needs to be done! Assuming nurses "know their job" just hasn't been enough, obviously.

Deb, I don't see it as losing my dignity at work. Yes, I am a nurse but my patients have the right to the best care possible. If that includes, in light of the high hospital infection rates, reminder to ask health care providers if they've washed their hands, then so be it. My only complaint with this campaign is it singles out nurses and does not include all patient care staff.

When my mom was getting chemo, she used to ask the RN if it was her medication and not someone else's. She would make the RN check the label right in front of her. She was afraid of a medication error. None of the RNs felt devalued and reassured her. Should patients just passively assume that the nurses "know their job" and take risks like that? I don't plan on doing that as a patient. No way, no how.

And why should JCAHO surveyors wear the buttons? Are they employees of the hospital? No. Are they providing care to the patients? No. I'm not sure why that question was asked.

I agree with you Susy-K. You are right on with your remarks. Our patients have the right to ask questions and we need to be grown up and professional enough to accept that. When someone asks me I may say "I just did but am glad to do it again" and go to the sink so they can see me wash my hands. I try and let patients see me use the alcohol hand sanitizer when I enter their rooms so they can see for themselves that it is being done.

Who are the biggest offenders? Let's hear it crew! The physicians. How many times have you seen it and cringed? There ought to be something that gets the message across that it's not just the hospital staff that should be questioned. Still, in view of the current MRSA problem, I would not be insulted if a patient asked me.

well again we agree to disagree. ONLY IF ALL OFFENDERS in the CHAIN OF INFECTION have to wear them, should we. That would include DOCTORS and FAMILY too right? NURSES are not the only offenders here.

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.

Plain and simple -- the real issue is how much illness and disease transmission can be avoided (for nurses too) by the cost-effective, easily accomplished measure of everyone washing hands between patients and assurring that instruments are sterilized.

We're pretty antiquated in the basics in spite of all the high tech b.s. Not to be gross but there are still people who get into the shower every day after their spouse and wash under their arms with the same bar of soap he/she just used to wash his/her butt.

Polio era studies (when they thought it might be fecal-related) showed that the micro-organisms from the fecal whatevers survived on the soap for many uses thereafter.

Forget the badges and remember that the life we protect with washing properly may be.....our own!