Hand Washing Can Minimize the Risks of Developing Colds and Infections from Your Hospital Visit

The hospital is a place for curing the sick. But, it’s ironic sometimes that a simple visit to the hospital can make you feel unwell at the end of the day. It’s not an uncommon occurrence. Lots of people who come in and out of the hospital do suffer from colds or any other types of infections. This can’t be helped because there are many sick people moving around the hospital that can cause the place to become a haven for infection-causing agents. However, there is a way for you to minimize the risks of developing colds or infections from your hospital visit. And, that is by simply doing some hand washing.

Hand washing may be seen as an ordinary activity but it has saved a million lives from succumbing to dreaded diseases and infections. When you visit the hospital, you get to touch doorknobs as you go in and out of the doctor’s clinic or the room of the patient that you are visiting. Sitting on benches, you can’t do away from touching the surfaces of the chair. The surfaces which you have touched may look spotless as seen by your naked eye. But, when those areas are tested and viewed under the microscope, you could be in for the shocking number of disease-causing microbes and bacteria unto them.

Hand washing can, therefore, help you kill and get rid of those bacteria before they can create havoc into your own immune system. This activity is particularly helpful especially when you need to eat or snack right after. Clean hands can also help prevent the transfer of bacteria to other areas of your body. Unconsciously, you can rub your eye or put your fingers over the small wound you have in your arm. When you haven’t managed to do some hand washing, then you can potentially develop an eye or wound infection sooner than you thought.

In the hospital, you can perform hand washing inside the restroom. If you’re not keen to this idea, however, you can also manage to clean your hands over the portable hand washing station that is scattered throughout the place. Similar to water fountains, hospitals have also placed emphasis on the value of having portable hand washing station in various levels and sections of their site. The mobile hand washing station devices come in handy because by being visible in the hallways, people can be reminded to take up the hand washing act.
Such pieces of equipment works like a regular hand washing sink complete with all the utilities like faucet, basin as well as warm and cold water supplies. Knowing the importance of hand washing, make sure to take up the habit the next time you get to visit a hospital setting.