Q. I am a retired dental hygienist with years of infection control experience. I know of evidence that health care workers must wash their hands between patients to prevent the spread of infection. I am dismayed when doctors fail to do this.
My husband asked his doctor to please wash his hands before examining him. The doctor’s reply was “What for?” He washed his hands (poorly) and threw the towel into the sink.
At a follow up appointment, he was talking to me about my treatment. He came up behind me and put his unwashed hands on my face.
I now go to another town for treatment. What can be done about doctors who don’t believe they should wash their hands?
A. Infectious disease experts are adamant that washing hands (and cleaning stethoscopes) before each examination is essential (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March, 2014). Asking a provider to do this can be intimidating for many patients, however.
One caller to our radio show said she takes hand sanitizer to her appointments and cleans her hands as soon as the doctor enters the room to serve as a good example. She says this action usually encourages the health professional to follow suit.
If you have found a successful strategy to get health professionals to wash their hands before examining you, please let us know about it in a comment, below. If you would like to read more about the dangers of infections being transmitted between patients in healthcare settings, we recommend our book, Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.
