Hand hygiene

Figure 1 Many large animal tasks require clean hands — **Figure 1** Many large animal tasks require clean hands

Hand care

Effective hand hygiene is a vital step in the reduction of infection spread between patients and to yourself or other people. The condition of your hands is also important. Remove all hand and wrist jewellery (a plain wedding band is permissible) and wrist watches (a fob watch worn on your clothing or kept in a pocket is preferable for this reason). Nails must be natural (not false), clean, unvarnished, short and intact.

Nicks and cuts harbour dirt and may be painful to wash, scrub or sanitise. Look after your hands! Wear protective gloves when performing heavy manual work (mucking out, gardening etc.) and use hand cream to prevent your skin drying out or getting chapped.

Sanitising your hands

Alcohol-based hand sanitiser is used when hands are free of visible dirt. It removes bacteria from the skin and is a quick and effective way to help prevent the transfer of pathogens between patients or onto your own skin. There is no need to dry hands after application as it quickly evaporates. However care must be taken to avoid getting it into cuts or nicks, as it stings!

The video below shows how to correctly apply hand sanitiser as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

Hand washing

Soap, water and friction is necessary to remove dirt (organic matter) from your skin. Hands should be washed and dried every time they are visibly dirty. Disposable paper towel is more hygienic in a clinical setting than reusable towels.

The video below shows how to correctly wash and dry hands as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

disposable gloves

These are widely used (figure 2). They are useful to reduce the transfer of your skin flora on to your patient. They also avoid heavy soiling of your hands. However disposable gloves are not under any circumstances a substitute for frequent and effective hand hygiene! Gloves are porous and also tear very easily.