by Better Hand Cleanliness for the Bedridden
Bedridden patients tend to wash their hand less because of the inconvenience. Their contaminated hands endanger themselves as well as their caregivers. Handwashing For Life Healthcare offers two suggestions to boost the power of alcohol hand sanitizers.
RubScrub™ is simply a handwash protocol without water.
Cleaning steps:
- 1. Apply a double dose of hand sanitizer, gel or foam, and proceed as you would for a soap/water handwash.
- 2. Rub hands together vigorously with plenty of friction for 20 seconds. (We recommend following our Core Handwash protocol.)
- 3. Wipe forcefully with a paper towel until dry.
SaniTwice® mimics the RubScrub™ method but adds one step.
Germ killing step:
- 4. Reapply hand sanitizer per manufacturer’s instructions and let air dry.
SaniTwice® is a very effective two-step protocol for washing hands in water-scarce situations. It is a friction-aided cleaning step coupled with a kill step. It has been independently tested for efficacy. Results were published in The Journal of Food Protection (Number 12, December 2010) with this summary: SaniTwice is “… equivalent or superior to hand washing” with soap and water.
These protocols are also valuable at outdoor fairs and special events, especially where food may be served.
