Are we really supposed to wash our hands twice in one encounter?

[Eilat87]

1. Wash your hand before shaking his/her hand.

2. Before physically examining patient, wash your hand again.

Seriously?

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[RenegadeSynapse]

I did not wash my hands prior to shaking their hand and I passed just fine, FWIW. I did wash my hands prior to every examination. Some folks prefer to use gloves for each examination. I didn't because it's not my typical approach unless there is a good reason.

 

[Eilat87]

I did not wash my hands prior to shaking their hand and I passed just fine, FWIW. I did wash my hands prior to every examination. Some folks prefer to use gloves for each examination. I didn't because it's not my typical approach unless there is a good reason.

Everything should be skin on skin, I understand that part.

 

[mmmcdowe]

I washed before the exam and after it, but not before the handshake. That was what was recommended by my school at least. FWIW I liked that pattern because it gave be a coupe seconds to gather my thoughts before the exam and before the discussion.

 

[ensuii]

The fact that this is a thread and warrants discussion is disturbing.

 

[BigSib]

Are we really supposed to wash our hands twice in one encounter?

At the very least you should wash your hands before initiating the physical exam. Many students I know washed their hands before shaking the patient's hand. You may use either the alcohol foam or soap/water; it doesn't matter. I found that using foam was beneficial because the lack of the sound from running water allowed me to make small talk with the patient (e.g., weather, current events, etc.).

The only time you would have to re-wash your hands is if you somehow contaminated them by touching the floor or sneezing into your hands or something. DO NOT wash your hands twice; you'll be wasting precious time.

 

[sylvanthus]

The fact that this is a thread and warrants discussion is disturbing.

Agreed. We get it beat into our heads that omg omg you must wash your hands before you touch the patient!!! So, then we are left thinking oh @#$% I can't possibly shake hands cuz that is touching! I have to wash my hands as soon as I enter the room. Then we are also told to make certain to wash hands before any PE.

So, with those two things, we are all neurotically convinced we have to wash hands twice and you know what? That is exactly what I did. I wasn't risking failing over something ******ed like this so I overdid it. Was likely not even remotely necessary, but the last thing I wanted to do was fly back to "chokenchicken" and retake that bloody thing.