The World Health Organization (WHO) defines infection prevention and control as “a scientific approach and practical solution designed to prevent harm caused by infection to patients and health workers.” It also “occupies a unique position in the field of patient safety and quality universal health coverage since it is relevant to health workers and patients at every single health care encounter.” As a Medical Technology student, it is part of our future profession to put into practice infection prevention and control in order to promote cleanliness in our work areas, in the hospital and in the community.
Palmer (1987) said that hand washing involves two methods. The first is basic hand washing “requires vigorous mechanical action whether or not a skin cleanser is used.” It is basically a ‘do-it-yourself’ vaccine because it only involves three things – soap, water and friction and within these three things, friction is considered the most important because it is responsible for scrubbing unwanted debris and microorganisms from our hands. He also emphasized that it is hypothetically desirable to wash one’s hands with an antiseptic agent especially in between patient contacts but using ordinary soap and friction under running
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First, it is so because it is the most basic. Hand washing is considered as the most basic means of infection control since it is the quickest, simplest and the most primary. Hand washing was taught to us even when we were still in our kindergarten years and our teacher even stressed the fact that hand washing keeps the germs away. Before we learned about the handy sanitizers and rubbing alcohol, we first learned to wash our hands through the bathroom or kitchen sink. We wash our hands before we wash our face, after we use the comfort room, before and after we eat and in other times when we need to have clean