Simple Steps To Make Handwashing A Habit For All Members Of Staff

In the healthcare industry, it’s crucial that infection control procedures are made a priority. When it comes to safeguarding residents in your care home, the single most important thing that you can do is ensure that handwashing is done on a regular basis. Because by doing so, infections and other dangerous bacteria are less likely to travel as far.
 

The most important thing when it comes to keeping hands clean is encouraging your team members to get into a regular habit of hand washing. As children, we’re all taught to wash our hands whenever we go to the bathroom and before we eat. This becomes a habit that sticks with us for life. 
 

When it comes to working in care homes, there are five key times when hand-washing is essential, these are: before touching a resident, after body fluid exposure, before cleaning any areas, after touching a resident, and after touching a resident’s surroundings.

 
The question is, how can you encourage your team to get into the habit of hand washing at these key times?

 
Put Up Reminders
 

Often, the reason that a team member fails to keep their hands clean is because they forget when the key times to cleanse are. To ensure that forgetting to wash their hands is a thing of the past, put up handwashing reminder posters. These should be put up in all areas where handwashing is of the utmost importance.

 
Make Hand Washing Easy
 

Ensure that all of your handwashing stations are always fully stocked up with soap and clean paper towels. As well as having handwashing stations, it’s also a good idea to dot on-the-go hand cleanser machines about. These should be placed in key places, such as entrances and exits, to remind your team of the importance of cleansing their hands.

 
Provide Staff Training
 

To make sure that all team members are properly trained when it comes to washing their hands, it’s a good idea to run regular training events. When it comes to cleansing your hands, it should take no less than a minute. The most important thing is to ensure that every area of skin is properly cleansed, including in between the fingers - an area that is often forgotten.

 
Make Hand-washing Fun
 

Believe it or not, washing hands can be fun, and it’s important to teach your team that. Instead of using basic soaps that all smell the same, mix it up and use a range of different soaps. Or, how about investing in soaps that change colour after the hands have been washed for long enough? There are now soaps that start off as blue and then as they foam up are rubbed into the skin, turn green. These are great for ensuring that hands are properly cleansed.

In a care home environment, handwashing is crucial for keeping residents safe and to prevent bacteria from spreading.

Watch the short video below by Rocialle showing the Effective Handwashing Procedure: