I asked the nurse to wash her hands

[FreakinScaryCaaw]

This morning I took my teenage son for a blood test. The nurse had used the keyboard to look up stuff and touched other surfaces. She was just about to take bloods when I said 'you are going to wash your hands aren't you?' She said my son was the first patient of the day and her hands were clean but if it made me feel better she'd wash them. I replied that she'd touched surfaces. She wasn't happy. She washed her hands reluctantly.

I wasn't being an arse was I?

No you weren't. On our dept loos there is a sign telling patients that they should do just that if they have not seen a member of staff wash their hands.

Didn't she have gloves on?
IME they wear gloves when taking blood?

No gloves.

YANBU.
And definitely not an arse.

She probably put gloves on to work with sharps anyway, didn't she?

I think you are probably being slight U.

They always wear gloves at our surgery to protect themselves and patients

Not an arse at all.

Definitely not being unreasonable. She had no right to have an attitude and was probably embarrasses that she'd been called out on it.

She was taking blood not performing surgery

I take blood and you were right to say it.

Don't keyboards have more germs than the average toilet?

I don't wear gloves tomtake blood but I wash my hands right before doing it.

YANBU, and this is a perfect example of the sort of thing that I usually WISH I was brave enough to raise. Either I muster up the bravery and feel like a bullying drama queen or I say nothing and die a bit inside.

If she didn't put on gloves I would be very concerned. I would imagine she has SOPs that state she must always wear gloves when taking blood.

I think you would have been better saying "would you mind washing your hands please?" As it sounds less accusatory but other than that, YANBU.

Although personally I wouldn't have mentioned it ( I have no idea whether the nurse washed her hands or wore gloves when DD had jabs last week!)

No, not unreasonable at all. I would always wash my hands before seeing a patient no matter how clean I thought they were. She was being a bit of arse. It's a perfectly reasonable request.

I work in a large hospital and we don't have anything which says we must wear gloves to take blood. It's advised that we do but its personal choice. However we must wear gloves to cannulate.

I don't think there's any evidence saying that wearing gloves benefits the patient from an infection prevention pov. It does however protect the nurse/doctor.

It was the keyboard that worried me. I once had a nurse use a phone with gloves on then go to pull cotton wool out of my nose after septoplasty op without changing the gloves. She got pulled too. But there was a lot of blood involved and you have to be careful with nasal area.

YANBU! This is blood testing for the love of God. Hygiene must be a superior. Doesn't matter if she has gloves or not. You have no idea if she scrubbed her ass before doing the blood test.

Of course YANBU. I'd have asked too (I mean for myself as I don't have children, so I wouldn't even be doing it in the spirit of PFB).

I'd record it with the practice manager; her failure to wash her hands and her attitude too.

The gloves are not for the patient's benefit. Some wear them and some don't (it's easier without). The principle is that if you get a needle stick injury while wearing a glove, most of the blood will be removed before the needle goes into your finger...debatable.

But clean hands are a must. She was probably absolutely mortified (and so she should be). On the plus side, she won't do that again.

YABU to say "'you are going to wash your hands aren't you?' "

YWNBU if you had said "i'd be really grateful if you washed your hands first"

But surely the only thing making contact with your son's blood was the (sterile) needle and possibly some cotton wool? Her hands wouldn't be touching the injection site.

Probably depends (like a lot of things) on your tone.
I wouldn't be offended if I'd forgotten and a patient politely reminded me.

When you have blood tests the nurse often, IME, touches/prods the arm or wherever when looking for veins. Not to mention presses the cotton wool onto the site afterwards until you get your own finger there to hold it down. The nurse could easily touch the site or around it.

Those saying the OP could have worded it differently, the nurse is a grown-up and I'm sure she can cope with the occasional patient speaking to her in a less than ultra-diplomatic way. Plus, IME some nurses' attitudes/manners of speaking to patients (and GPs) are shockingly rude.

I would've been polite if she hadn't been just about to take bloods when she obviously wasn't going to wash them.

Having said that I can be very assertive so probably should have been nicer. She was really put out.

I really thought you would have to wash your hands before taking bloods?

I work in healthcare and have to wash my hands a lot. I don't do much personal care as it's learning difficulty and mental health but lots of germs going about.