Alcohol Based Hand Rubs Analysis

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Abstract This paper contains an analysis of the hand hygiene/fingernails procedure from Mayo Clinic Health Systems, Mankato, specifically alcohol based hand rubs. This paper also contains an analysis of research to enforce the effectiveness and the importance of hand washing procedures using alcohol based hand rubs in healthcare settings such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. Infection and diseases caused by lack of hand hygiene is a major problem in healthcare that contributes to multiple infections, illnesses and diseases as well as possible death. It’s important to know the importance and effectiveness of hand hygiene using alcohol based hand rubs in healthcare in order to stop these infections, diseases, illnesses, and unnecessary …show more content…

This is because alcohol-based hand rubs are more effective at killing potentially deadly germs on the hands than soap, it requires less time, it is more readily available and accessible than sinks for hand washing, it reduces bacterial counts on hands better than soap and water, and keeps the skin more moist and less irritated than soap and water (Center for Disease Control, 2016, p. 1). Due to this information, it is apparent that alcohol based hand rubs have the potential to be very beneficial in healthcare settings, such as hospitals, because of their great effectiveness and ease of …show more content…

Prolonged dry time is a major deterrent for most people who work in health care. If alcohol based hand sanitizers stop the steady flow of work in a busy healthcare facility, healthcare employees will be less likely to use them due to lack of time. In a study done by Macinga, Shumaker, Werner, Edmonds, Leslie, Parker, & Arbogast (2014), it was found that the volume of alcohol based hand rub used in order to be effective in reducing infections, illnesses, and diseases actually increases the dry time required for the alcohol based hand rubs (p. 5). This could lead to decreased compliance in alcohol based hand rub use in healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities must find alcohol based hand rubs that have an adequate amount of alcohol to still be effective but does not significantly increase the dry time of alcohol based hand

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