Docfan Academy

Clean hands are the cheapest and strongest way to stop infection in a clinic or hospital. Germs travel on hands from patient to patient, and from surfaces to patients. You can break that chain in half a minute.

The 5 moments

WHO teaches five moments when you must clean your hands:

1. Before touching a patient.
2. Before a clean or aseptic task, such as an injection or a wound dressing.
3. After a risk of contact with blood or body fluids.
4. After touching a patient.
5. After touching the patient's surroundings, such as the bed, rails or drip stand.

Rub or wash?

• Alcohol-based hand rub: use it when your hands look clean. Rub all surfaces for about 20 to 30 seconds, until dry. It is fast and kinder to your skin.
• Soap and water: use it when your hands look dirty or are soiled with blood or body fluids, and after using the toilet. Wash for about 40 to 60 seconds, then dry with a single-use towel.
• Do not use rub and soap one after the other. Choose one. Follow your infection-prevention guidance when it says to wash, for example during some outbreaks.

Small details that matter

• Keep nails short and clean. Do not wear artificial nails.
• Take off rings, bracelets and watches at work. Germs hide under them.
• Cover cuts with a waterproof dressing.
• Put hand-rub dispensers where care happens, within arm's reach of the bed or the treatment trolley, not at the end of the corridor.
• Check every day that dispensers are full. An empty bottle protects nobody.