The importance of hand disinfection prior to surgery

摘要

'Hand washing is a practice we perform ritualistically, but as healthcare professionals we need to appreciate its importance in clinical practice and not become complacent about it' (Kerr, 1998) Research indicates that a lack of hand washing is a major contributor to hospital-acquired infection. Up to 5000 patients a year are killed or affected by infections acquired in hospital (National Audit Office, 2000). Surgical hand disinfection removes transient microorganisms and acts to reduce the number of resident microorganisms. The rationale is to reduce patients' chances of developing surgical site infections. The hand-washing process reduces the number of transient (often acquired during healthcare interventions and can be passed to others) and resident flora (organisms usually found on the skin) (Pratt et al, 2007; Tanner, 2008; Tanner et al, 2008).