Hand washing is required when entering any clinical area and before commencing any procedure. For most procedures carried out in a ward environment, it is adequate to wash with soap and water or use alcohol gel. Procedures carried out in a theatre environment usually require the hands and forearm to be washed using an aseptic hand washing technique, also known as the surgical scrubbing technique. Once hands have been washed and dried, a sterile gown and gloves should be put on without touching any non sterile surfaces. Effective hand decontamination significantly reduces potential pathogens on hands and can prevent patient morbidity and mortality.<\/p>\n
Once you have watched this video, why not attempt the multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hand washing is required when entering any clinical area and before commencing any procedure. For most procedures carried out in a ward environment, it is adequate to wash with soap and water or use alcohol gel. Procedures carried out in a theatre environment usually require the hands and forearm to be washed using an aseptic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tomorrows-clinicians","category-uncategorized","entry"],"youtubeVideo":"508756639\/1f63179070","question1":"Which of the following statements is most accurate?","answers1":"The primary purpose of surgical scrubbing is to reduce the microbial count on the nails, hands and forearms to a minimum.| The primary purpose of surgical scrubbing is to clean the nails and hands.| The primary purpose of surgical scrubbing is to sterilise the nails, hands and forearms.| The primary purpose of surgical scrubbing is to sterilise the nails and hands.","correctAnswer1":"0","correctAnswerText1":"Scrubbing is not a sterilisation technique but aims to reduce potential pathogen load transmitted in the event of glove puncture.","question2":"An alternative description of surgical scrubbing is...","answers2":"Sterile hand washing technique| Clean hand washing technique| Aseptic hand washing technique| Decontamination hand washing technique\r\n","correctAnswer2":"2","correctAnswerText2":"If any part of the field being scrubbed comes into contact with anything other than the rest of the field being scrubbed or the scrub brush before the scrub has finished, this area should be rescrubbed directly for one minute.","question3":"The following solutions are most appropriate for use when scrubbing:","answers3":"Betadine or alcohol| Betadine or chlorhexidine| Chlorhexidine or alcohol| Chlorhexidine or betadine\r\n","correctAnswerText3":"","correctAnswer3":"3","question4":"Preparatory steps in the scrubbing zone prior to surgical scrubbing should include the following:","answers4":"Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water. Put on a face mask and protective eye wear.| Wash hands with soap and water. Remove face mask from a previous procedure if contaminated, and replace it with a new mask.| Set up the sterile gown and glove trolley in the theatre area. Wash hands with soap and water and put on a face mask and protective eye wear in the scrubbing zone.| Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water if they are obviously contaminated. Put on a face mask and protective eye wear.","correctAnswer4":"0","correctAnswerText4":"","question5":"The most accurate description of what the first scrub should include would be...","answers5":"Remove debris from under the nails with a nail pick, then scrub nails, hands and full forearms.| Remove debris from under the nails with a nail pick then scrub nails, hands and two thirds of the forearms.| Remove debris from under the nails with a nail pick, then scrub the nails.| Remove debris from under the nails with a nail pick, then scrub nails and hands to mid-arm.\r\n","correctAnswer5":"0","correctAnswerText5":"The second scrub includes the nails, hands and two thirds of the forearms to reduce the risk of recontamination of the hands.","question6":"Regarding the second scrubbing process:","answers6":"It should form part of a total scrubbing time of 3 minutes and use 5mls of scrub solution| It should form part of a total scrubbing time of 2 minutes and use 5ml of scrub solution| It should form part of a total scrubbing time of 3 minutes and use 10ml of scrub solution| It should form part of a total scrubbing time of 2 minutes and use 10ml of scrub solution.\r\n","correctAnswer6":"1","correctAnswerText6":"No evidence to suggest a longer scrub time than 2 minutes will affect infection rates.","question7":"After scrubbing:","answers7":"One towel should be used for each hand\/arm moving from proximal to distal| One towel should be used in total| The first towel should get the excess water off both hands\/forearms and the second towel should be used to ensure both the right and left side are fully dry.\r\n|One towel should be used for each hand\/arm moving from distal to proximal.\r\n","correctAnswer7":"3","correctAnswerText7":"Drying should be one towel per arm and should move towards the patient\u2019s body to reduce risk of re-contamination of the hands.","question8":"When removing the gloves and gown:","answers8":"The most heavily contaminated garment should be removed first| The gloves should be removed first as these will be the most contaminated| The gown should be removed first, in an inside out fashion then the gloves removed in the same inside out fashion| The mask should be removed then gown should be removed, in an inside out fashion then the gloves removed in the same inside out fashion.\r\n","correctAnswer8":"2","correctAnswerText8":"This is the safest method with the least likelihood of contaminating the person removing their protective equipment.","question9":"An example of when it is not be necessary to perform the aseptic scrubbing technique and wear full sterile clothing in the theatre environment: ","answers9":"Open procedure for perforated appendix| Laparotomy for perforated bowel| Endoscopy under general anaesthesia| Haemorrhoidectomy.\r\n","correctAnswer9":"2","correctAnswerText9":"","question10":"Regarding the impact of an effective scrubbing technique:","answers10":"There is no evidence that scrubbing is directly effective in reducing nosocomial infections| There is no evidence that scrubbing is directly effective in reducing nosocomial infections but anecdotally it appears useful| There is no evidence that properly performed scrubbing reduces nosocomial infections but application technique with application of the gloves is more important| There is evidence to suggest that correct scrubbing technique for 2 minutes reduces the risk of nosocomial infections.\r\n","correctAnswer10":"3","correctAnswerText10":"","question11":"The following combination of patient factors are important in determining risk for developing nosocomial infections:","answers11":"Age, obesity, ethnicity| Age, obesity, smoking| Smoking, ethnicity, co-morbid factors| Diabetes, gender, smoking\r\n","correctAnswer11":"1","correctAnswerText11":"","question12":"Which of the following factor relating to surgery is NOT well established as being important in determining the risk for developing nosocomial infections:","answers12":"Duration of surgical scrub| Duration of operation| Type of anaesthetic agent used| Poor haemostasis","correctAnswer12":"2","correctAnswerText12":"","question13":"","answers13":"","correctAnswer13":"","correctAnswerText13":"","question14":"","answers14":"","correctAnswer14":"","correctAnswerText14":"","question15":"","answers15":"","correctAnswer15":"","correctAnswerText15":"","icon":"surgical-scrubbing-up","parentId":"","recapId":"409","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}