"Wash your hands!" You probably remember mom saying that when you were a child.
Turns out, mother knows best.
It sounds so simple - and yet it's so important.
"Handwashing is the most effective way of preventing disease in any setting. It prevents colds and flues, diarrhea, hospital acquired infections - but it's especially important in the hospital setting because in the hospital we amplify diseases versus Walmart or a grocery store or some place else,” said John Hollaran of Castle Medical Center.
How do we know that handwashing is effective when it comes to disease prevention?
"Yes, it is measurable. We've known for hundreds and hundreds of years, back in Europe one of the physicians back there, before germ theory was even invented had all of his staff wash their hands and he reduced their infection rate ten fold,” said Hollaran.
Castle Medical Center has set up hand washing stations throughout the hospital. And officials there are watching closely to make sure that staff members are following through.
"We're monitoring hand washing. We're watching to see if staff are washing their hands and we're measuring that compliance to see if it's going up. We're also rewarding the staff if we catch them washing their hands and we've also put out the alcohol hand gels in a lot of places in the hallways,” said Hollaran.
And believe it or not, there is a right way and a wrong way to wash your hands. Here's the right way. "Wet your hands, you put the soap on. And then wash your hands for 15 seconds, getting it in between the fingers, the nail bit and everything and then dry your hands with a paper towel and then turn off the faucet with the paper towels so as not to re-contaminate your hands,” explains Hollaran.
We're told the proper length of time to wash your hands should take just about long enough to sing 'twinkle, twinkle little star.”
