Why Is Hygiene Important In Medical Practices?
Hygiene plays a huge role in the medical industry, be it the chamber of a doctor or the entire premises of a hospital or nursing home, particularly in an era in which the COVID19 virus is spreading like wildfire. Even traces of bacteria or germs in such places could play havoc with the patients who already have decreased immunity. Most hospitals sterilise surgical equipment before an operation. However, one should also consider about the cleanliness of the floor, the dresses the surgeon, his assistants, and nurses use. Typically, the surgeon uses a disposable facemask, wears sterilised gloves, while the nurses wear sterilised garments. However, the hospital industry uses many other hygiene products.
Extra information about hygiene products
What products should you use to ensure that hands and areas are kept clean?
Several decades ago, before modern sanitisation sprays and liquids were available, doctors used a spray made of carbolic acid on surgical tools, dressings, and wounds. They also used to scrub their hands with soap frequently. For the uninitiated, soap can remove most of the germs in the palm, fingers, and in between the fingers when used properly. Later on, doctors started using a solution of chlorine to sanitise their hands, as it was far more effective than soap and killed most of the germs and bacteria remaining on the palms and fingers after washing them with soap. In the past, surgeons used the same pair of gloves after washing them with soap, not sure, if they were contaminated with germs or not. The advent of the sanitised and disposable surgical glove did away with this problem. Sterile disposable gloves play a massive role in preventing contamination of the surgical site contamination as well as reduce the risk of transmission of the blood-borne pathogen from patients to the surgical team.
What does keeping these areas clean protect against?
The pandemic caused by COVID19 has increased the demand and use of sanitisation in hospitals and nursing homes. Leading pharmaceutical companies have come out with hand sanitizers that contain a mixture of alcohol, copolymer, propylene glycol, acrylates, alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, and tetrahydroxypropyethylendiamine. Simply cleaning the hands, dresses, and the bed on which the patient sleeps is not enough. The floor of hospitals and nursing homes should also stay germ-free. Compounds containing quaternary ammonium are used broadly in routine cleaning of the floor. Hypochlorites are among the most commonly used chlorine-based disinfectant, the most common being sodium hypochlorite. This sanitising agent can effectively clean viruses, fungi, as well as bacteria.