When should you perform hand hygiene during a home visit?

When should you perform hand hygiene during a home visit?

• A. Before meals only.
• B. After leaving the room only.
• C. Never need to perform hand hygiene.
• D. Before and after patient contact, after contact with bodily fluids, after removing gloves, and when hands are visibly dirty.

Answer: (D)

Hand hygiene should be done before and after patient contact, after contact with bodily fluids, after removing gloves, and whenever hands are visibly dirty. This approach reduces the chance of transmitting germs to the patient and prevents you from carrying organisms to surfaces or other people. Washing your hands before touching the patient helps prevent introducing pathogens to them. Washing after patient contact stops any organisms you picked up from spreading. After removing gloves, hands can still be contaminated, so a clean hand hygiene step is essential. When hands are visibly dirty, soap and water are the best choice because they physically remove dirt and microbes that sanitizers may not remove. In practice, use soap and water when hands are dirty or after exposure to fluids, and use an alcohol-based hand rub when hands are not visibly dirty and water isn’t readily available, but always clean hands at these key times.