By Tiffany Lai July 19, 2023
The hospital is a potential germ infestation ground with sick patients flowing in and out of it’s corridors everyday. It is important to protect yourself and your patients from cross contamination. Every hospital has their own guidelines for sanitation. Here is a generalization of what you might see.
General hygiene:
“Gel in, gel out” - Rub hand sanitizer over your hands before you enter the room and after you leave room.
Gloves on after the hand sanitizer and before you handle equipment or the patient.
Gloves off before you leave the room, and then gel out.
Bonus hygiene tips:
- Assume hands are dirty and contaminated until you wash them.
- Try not to touch your face and don’t eat while documenting on the computer.
- Floors may be contaminated.
- Have dedicated work shoes and scrubs.
- Don’t track your work shoes into the house.
- Some therapists will wipe their shoes with a bleach wipe before leaving for home.
- If the treatment calls for sitting or kneeling on a patient bed, lay down a clean sheet or a pad first.
- No shoes on the bed.
- Never put patient belongings on the floor.
- Put on a chuck on the floor first or place belongings on top of another chair.
In addition to these tips, pay attention to the signs in front of the door or PPE carts in front of a room entrance, indicating an infectious disease. You may want to ask the nurse for the reason for the extra precautions. These precautions should also show up on the patient’s medical chart. The exact verbiage will vary from hospital to hospital: