Topic Posted by: Liz
Date Posted: Fri Oct 23 14:57:43 2009
Additional Comments:
Did you know that 1/3 of all women & 2/3 of all men do not wash their hands after using a public restroom?
Those who do not wash their hands can have 40% bacteria left on them. Those who wash with water only can have 18% bacteria & using soap can leave 8%.
My Mother pounded it into our heads as children that you have to wash your hands after using the bathroom. Of course, being a nurse, I'm obsessed with handwashing. My son also knows that I will nail him the second he leaves the restroom if I don't hear the faucet run after he uses the bathroom. While at a national conference on correctional healthcare, I noticed several women leaving the toilet stalls & heading right out the door without stopping at the sinks to wash their hands. For all I know, they may have used an antibacterial gel after leaving the restroom. Still, they had to touch the doorknob to leave the restroom. Totally gross, IMO. We are in the throws of cold & flu season. A simple task like washing your hands does more to prevent the spread of germs than just about anything else.
Posted by: CleoJ Date posted: Sun Oct 25 17:08:11 2009
Message:
Another important aspect to washing your hands is doing it properly. I hate to go into a public restroom and see people wash their hands and then touch the handles of the faucet and then the paper towel dispenser and then the door. Yuck, what was the point of washing! I also don't like to see ladies put their purses and other personal items on the floor or even the bathroom counters which are nasty and disgusting and lastly, why would anyone ever walk into a public restroom barefoot? yep, I've seen that too.
Oh and here's one more for ya, I just saw this a couple of weeks ago: a lady comes out of the restroom
-washes her hands
-uses the paper towel to shut off the faucet
-uses the same paper towel to wipe around the sink
Posted by: carmen Date posted: Sun Oct 25 13:03:27 2009
Message:
not only do i wash after the restroom but in a public restroom i use my paper towel to open the door and then discard the towel. i figure even tho i wash, the person who touched the handle did not so it negates the process.
elbows work well in opening the doors too! it all just grosses me out.
Posted by: Cindy G Date posted: Sat Oct 24 14:19:40 2009
Message: I totally believe what you said about the percentages of women and men who don't wash their hands. If I think back to years ago, I bet my husband didn't wash his hands when he used the restroom or before he ate. I have him trained now. It is almost an obsession with my oldest son. In fact he thinks hand washing is more effective than hand sanitizer; but with the 8% you just mentioned I think he may be wrong. He has a friend that is OCD. His friend will only eat food that he prepares himself. He is always welcome for dinner but never stays. Anyway this friend told my son not to used hand sanitizer because it only kill 99% of common germs; and that washing with soap and water killed more germs. I find that hard to believe.
Posted by: katiesbeach Date posted: Sat Oct 24 10:29:46 2009
Message: you can wash your hands all you want (and i do after using the restroom) but then we go and put our hands on the very door that someone else just used that DIDN'T.
Posted by: Ashley Date posted: Sat Oct 24 8:37:50 2009
Message: I totally believe this. I have noticed, however, that lately a lot more people wash their hands after using the restroom, in my limited observation. Must be all the H1N1 hype. We even got new Purell dispensers all over our work - let's see if they keep them stocked ;o)
Posted by: Bonk5 Date posted: Sat Oct 24 3:12:07 2009
Message: I have read and heard my son say they discussed this in class, that over washing and using too much Sanitizer is also not good. It takes away some of our natural immunity.
Germs have been around since the beginning of time. we should wash and be clean, but I think we are all getting paranoid, bc of the flu and other stuff. Need to use common sense.
Restaurants have to wash their glasses, plates in very hot water, they would have the health dept. down on them if they did not. I am not saying you could not get sick in a restaurant, but it is mostly from food not cooked right, not unclean glass ware.
Germs do not stick around a long time. So I am sure the table and pepper shakers are cleaned! yes I do wash my hands use sanitizer, but I wonder if we are over doing it?
Posted by: UncleJJJ Date posted: Fri Oct 23 17:33:02 2009
Message: I can't stand it when I am in the restroom at work and see people walk out without washing their hands. They even have a giant pump container of hand sanitizer due to H1N1 in there which the same people will ignore. I always wash my hands and use the hand sanitizer most of the time also.
