Wash Your Hands in a Hospital or Doctor’s Office to Avoid Bringing Harmful Germs Home.
It’s not just doctors and nurses who have to worry about carrying disease-causing bacteria on their hands. As a patient, you should also wash your hands.
Why worry about hospital germs? Think about it: People with infections or infectious diseases come to health facilities all the time. Everyone tries to keep things clean, including the medical staff washing their hands many times a day, and the cleaning lady sterilizing everything in sight. But bacteria are cunning people, and from time to time, some of them survive on the floor, doorknobs, or other places where another person can pick them up.
Many of these germs have a chance to become resistant to antibiotics, so getting rid of them is dangerous if they manage to infect you. A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine confirmed that this is not just a guess – patients do bring drug-resistant bacteria home after being in the hospital.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution. Hand washing with regular soap and water will reduce the chance of germ transmission . Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are full of handwashing sinks and hand sanitizer dispensers (hand sanitizer can be used as a last resort, but it doesn’t replace hand washing ), so do yourself and your family a favor at home. Wash your hands before going out.
Patients leave hospital with superbugs on their hands | NPR
Photo by Sheila Sund .