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?

[sabs22]

Even if wearing gloves, hands should still be washed prior to putting gloves on. Any NHS hand hygiene document will state that clearly.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

This has reminded me, I have a nifty little enamelled badge which has a symbol of a handprint made of water drops , to encourage patients to ask.
Kind of if I'm wearing this badge you can feel free to ask me

I get more patients asking if the paper towel is clean (it is, it's pristine unless its an end of roll which is always a bit less so) . I make a big thing of removing the paper once I'm done and swabbing the couch.
Then I get asked "Oh this chairs wet " . No it's the alcohol. Under the paper towel.

[Poopops81]

Thanks I do actually use that already, I guess there's no hope

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

You need The Body Shop's Hemp hand cream , that's the stuff for builder's hands

[Poopops81]

Bit late here but regarding the dry cracked hands....
I am a nurse and was at a bar few years ago, a guy offered to buy me a drink, generally having a go at chatting me up. He took my hand and said " whoa utter respect love, don't see many female builders"
He assumed this due to the state of my hands. I was mortified

[Vegetablegarden]

Yes I would not have thought to ask. However I am glad you did.

[sambly]

Well done for speaking up.
I'm guessing it was difficult to do.
People criticising your delivery are nitpicking because they would have not had the guts.
Hygiene is important, and can save lives.
I met a family that had a child who died because of failure of a nurse to apply hospital hygiene codes.

[mummy2zni]

Just going to leave this here - NHS guidelines as to when we should wash our hands...

[a1poshpaws]

NBU at all. She was being downright unprofessional, and you called her on it .. ok she was in a snit: she's blooming lucky you didn't make a formal complaint,then she'd have something to snit about. (I'm afraid if she'd shown me that attitude, there'd have been an email to the Doctor in charge of the practice en route within the hour.)

[Sara107]

Hands should be washed before and after touching patients, regardless of what you are doing to them! This is basic infection control and it only works if practitioners all do it routinely without stopping to decide whether they think it's necessary. My osteopath always washes his hands before touching me, and when my dD has been to have her tummy felt for constipation the dr would wash hands first, even though there is no blood or injury or sickness involved.

[user1467101855]

so what? you don't know if she's been to the loo before (many people don't wash their hands) or on public transport. and who knows who touched the keyboards before...

So what? Well, other posts said that the risk was cross infection from one patient to another, which doesn't apply for the first patient. Thats so what Plus she said her hands were clean, and she's a nurse, so in all likelyhood she washed her hands right before they arrived.

[blitheringbuzzards1234]

YANBU and she should not have been so casual about it. There are signs up all over these places, aren't there? Practice what you preach and all that. Hopefully your action will ensure that she'll be more careful in future.

[seriouslynonames]

At my GP surgery I have had an ear thermometer put in my ear without the doc changing the disposable cover. He just picked it up off his messy desk (it was not in its case) which must be covered in germs. Also had another GP at same place pick up a tongue depressor off his desk, after rifling around to find it, to use in my daughter's mouth. Thankfully he didn't need to as I would have swiped it out of his hand had he tried. Same doc a few weeks later had to get a new box of tongue depressors from storage room. He first rifled through his desk and bag then went out and came back in, touching multiple door handles. He took one out of the new box, handled both ends with his unwashed hands and before I could protest had popped it into my mouth. I pushed his hand away as quickly as I could but was too surprised to say anything and just wished i'd not bothered going to the doc - would rather a throat infection than goodness knows whatever other germs might have been all over the many surfaces and door handles he touched. If I am given an appt with him again I will not be shy about asking him to wash his hands!

[BluePitchFork]

But she said he was the first patient of the day

so what? you don't know if she's been to the loo before (many people don't wash their hands) or on public transport. and who knows who touched the keyboards before...

[user1467101855]

But she said he was the first patient of the day, so she hadn't been seeing sick patients all day at all.
IF there is no danger of passing on any illness or infection via taking his blood, then what is the danger we are concerned about? I'm not disagreeing that she should have washed her hands, but there are competing answers here about what risk there actually was to anyone.

[jacks11]

There is no requirement for gloves for taking blood. There isn't much evidence that it benefits the patient and is more for the clinicians protection.

It is possible to take blood without directly contacting the venepuncture site after decontamination, if you know what to do (palpate the vein, use alcohol wipe and then don't touch site again) but fair enough to ask her to wash her hands. I doubt it would have been a serious health risk to your DS but I can see why you would ask her to do so.

[Mumtogremlins]

YANBU. My DD has bloods taken weekly, at home and hospital. The nurse always washes hands first and puts gloves on. The injection site is also sterilised using a wipe or wand. I have seen a lot of bad practices over the years though - you were right to ask

[NowWhat1983]

Not read the thread but surely unless she touches the needle tip that goes into your vein: which she wont do, it is surely ok.

[Janey50]

AND....I appreciate that taking blood is not a 'sterile procedure' but I would have thought that it was common sense to wash your hands before touching someone,after touching a previous patient. Who knows what bacteria they may have lurking on their skin? OK,so it may have been her first patient of the day,but OP wasn't to know that.

[PassThePinot]

YANBU at all. In fact I am glad you asked her. That is not being said in a patronising tone either, I'm an infection control nurse and hand washing before ANY patient contact, regardless of what is being done and what has been touched prior, HAS to done. It's part of our health board policy. Good for you for asking her.

[Janey50]

And one extra point I will make. There seems to a shocking reluctance amongst MINORITY of medical professionals to wash their hands. By it's very nature,a career in the medical/caring professions requires you to wash your hands frequently. So why go into a job like this if you are anti hand washing?