BOPDHB Patient Resources Fractured Neck of Femur Patient Handbook- May 2015 | Page 46

General advice Hand hygiene Hand hygiene is the single most important way to prevent the spread of harmful germs (bacteria and viruses) that can cause infection. In hospital you can expect your healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants and others) to perform excellent hand hygiene before, during and after caring for you. Healthcare workers should clean their hands: • Before they touch you. • After they have touched you, before they leave. • Directly before and directly after they perform a procedure on you. • After they are exposed to body fluids. • After touching your surroundings (e.g. bed) if none of the above have occurred It’s OK to ask We take hand hygiene seriously, however, we are not perfect and there may be times when we do not clean our hands as often as we should. If you are worried that a staff member has not cleaned his or her hands properly it is ok to remind us, in fact, we welcome it. What you can do Germs are present all around us. When we are ill we are more at risk of developing an infection from harmful bacteria or viruses that we may pick up, either from something we have touched or from someone passing it onto us. The risk of infection being spread from a healthcare worker’s hands to you is reduced when they perform correct hand hygiene. In addition, it is important that you clean your own hands at the following times while you are in hospital: • Before eating food. • After using the bathroom. 44