Handwashing Question

[Mickey78]

Hello Everyone,

I am a new nursing student who has a question about hand washing and the use of the old lever/crank paper towel dispensers. I was wondering how one would correctly wash and dry their hands without recontaminating their hands by touching the crank on the paper towel dispenser to get a dry paper towel to turn off the faucet. e.g. crank down paper towel, wet hands, apply soap, wash hands using friction for 20 seconds, dry hands with paper towel.... then what? How do I get another paper towel to shut off the water faucet without touching the crank/lever on the paper towel dispenser to get more paper towel? Need procedural advice... not get an automatic dispenser.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Crank it before you wash.

[Mickey78]

Delana,

I do start by cranking it to wash my hands but after using the paper towel to dry my hands, how do I touch the crank again to get paper towel to turn off the faucet without recontaminating my clean and dried hands?

[Party_of_five, BSN]

Use the paper towel that you have in your hand leftover from drying to turn the faucet. Just make sure you crank out enough before you wash.

[amoLucia]

And have some extra towel avail to use to handle the inside bathroom door handle.

[Mickey78]

While I do appreciate the responses, using the wet paper towel from drying my hands would not be acceptable as the paper towel I use to turn off the faucet after washing and drying my hands is supposed to be dry according to our nursing text and once I rip off the paper towel to dry my hands after washing them there is no paper towel available until after I would touch the crank/lever with my clean hands to dispense some? I guess I'm confused....

1. crank/lever to dispense paper towel

2. wet hands, wash hands with friction for 20 seconds

3. Use dry paper towel to dry hands ( using the paper towel that I cranked out at the beginning)

4. Use dry paper towel to turn off faucets? (here is where I fumble.....) how do I dispense/crank out a dry paper towel without touching the crank lever on the dispenser?

[Burnvegas]

Use your elbow on the crank?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I doubt the microbes on the faucet can osmose through the multiple layers of towel that result from crumpling, in the

if I space and forget to crank prior to turning the faucet on, I use my elbow on the crank.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Just use the paper towel in your hand or an elbow.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Oh man, do I not miss this part of nursing school. Don't worry, it gets better than this.

Maybe crank out an extra long sheet, tear off part and drape it over the faucet handle, wash, dry hands with the rest of what's on the dispenser, then use the dry first part to turn off the water.

[amoLucia]

I doubt the microbes on the faucet can osmose through the multiple layers of towel that result from crumpling, in the

Is that something like the 5 second rule???

[djh123]

Obviously handwashing IS a big deal. We've all heard about how many doctors and nurses (amazingly) don't do it enough, and that the lack of proper handwashing is one reason why things spread. Having said that, though, your focusing on minute details of handwashing makes me smile, given that in my LTC/rehab facility I usually have to run like a chicken with my head cut off the entire shift, which means that although I use hand sanitizer a lot, and wash my hands often, I still don't do it enough, and certainly not always 'properly'. It's crazy out there...