Hand Washing Presentation Analysis

Hand Washing Presentation Summary

A presentation was provided for a small group of residents and nursing students for a facility known as Casas Adobes Post-Acute Rehabilitation in Tucson, AZ. An introduction of self and why this writer was there were completed. A rubber chicken and some apples which were covered with a powder called Glo Germ were passed around the room. When this powder is rubbed in well on an object, it cannot be seen by the naked eye. It was asked of the participants to feel the objects and at the end of the presentation things will be explained why they were passed these items. A pamphlet that this writer prepared was handed out to each individual. This pamphlet is simple and esthetically pleasing. It explains

Hand washing is the single most important technique that a person can use in preventing the spread of infection. There is good reason to worry about infectious diseases right now, and not just because of Ebola (Winters, 2014). With flu season in full bloom and the lack of hand washing from most persons the public and health care workers are susceptible to contracting colds, influenza, gastrointestinal disorders, and more. Through proper hand washing techniques the chance for contracting such diseases can be greatly reduced.

Health care workers and the public have three types of hand hygiene to choose from. The first being the cleaning of hands with plain non-medicated hand soap and water (social hand wash), the second is the use of medicated soap which contains antimicrobial ingredients (hygienic hand wash) and the third is antimicrobial gel which does not need water and is alcohol based (hygienic disinfection). The CDC recommendation is the use of alcohol based hand rub before and after treatment of patient care (Kampf & Kramer,

I prefer to leave this to the ones who possess this very special talent. That being said, all the attendees were very interested in what I had to say. All were active in the question and answer session as well as the Glow Germ experiment. After my initial introduction of who I was, I passed out the pamphlets and peaked their interest with the passing of the plastic chicken and apples. Questions from the audience included the use of gel cleansers, hand washing before and after handling raw meats, and should nurses wash their hands before and after wearing gloves. One of the patients in the facility asked about why sometimes their facility is shut down to outside visitors because of many of the patients having diarrhea. This writer stated that more than likely someone was not washing their hands and had fecal matter on them which contained a bacteria known as giardia. This is then passed from patient to patient which more than likely caused this outbreak. In order to keep this infection contained, the facility will close down to outside visitors until the outbreak is