Wellness Wire: Doctors & Hand-Washing

Hospitals are urging patients to ask doctors if they’ve washed their hands recently, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

It seems silly because doctors are supposed to be the ones that are more health conscious, especially before seeing patients. Hospitals urge patients to ask this because infections spread quickly in hospitals, nursing homes and doctor’s offices. These infections affect over 1 million patients and results in 100,000 deaths a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Studies have shown that doctors only comply with hand-washing protocol half the time, whether they are using hand-sanitizing gels, sprays, or actually washing their hands.

Especially during this time of the year, flu prevention is crucial. If you’re out in public touching door handles, using public restrooms, or sharing space with those that are sick, maximizes your chances of getting sick.

Because hospitals and doctor’s offices are filled with sick patients, it’s even more important for doctor’s to wash their hands on the regular throughout their workdays.

Yet, some are afraid to ask doctors if they have washed their hands to prevent ruining the relationship and to not come across as disrespectful. Others feel that doctors should know better than to not wash their hands, so they don’t feel the need to ask.

According to the article, a study was published in September in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology that said one-third of patients surveyed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center observed doctors failing to wash their hands, but two-thirds of that group didn’t address it.

Patients who take drugs that negatively affect their immune system are at the highest risk for catching an infection spread by their own doctor, which is why hospitals urge these patients in particular to definitely ask whether or not their doctor has washed their hands.

Hospitals are working on a strategy to track whether or not doctors and nurses have washed their hands before attending to patients. In the meantime, finding a way to ask your doctor or nurse if he or she has washed their hands may benefit you in the long run. The risk of getting an infection isn’t worth the fear of asking your doctor.

What are your thoughts on this?

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