It is perhaps the simplest, but most important part of the doctor patient visit: time when the physician or other caregiver washes his or her hands. But new research shows doctors frequently don’t clean themselves before touching the patient

You’d think this would be a no-brainer for doctors. Soap or non-soap alcohol cleaners are either right in an exam room or hospital room or just outside of it.
“Busy healthcare workers simply don’t have the time to find a sink and wash their hands,” says Joan Mayo, Infection Control Manager at Mountainside Hospital in New Jersey. “It’s one of the most important infection control practices. In fact, infection control is not rocket science. It’s things like hand washing basics, covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze. These are the cornerstones of infection control. And I don’t think I can overemphasize the importance of washing the hands.”
Still, a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows doctors wash their hands prior to a patient interaction on average only 57 percent of the time.
Perhaps the most disturbing part of the study is that when doctors were performing activities, such as surgery or treating patients in the E.R., considered to be at the highest risk for contaminating the patient, was when hand washing rates were lowest.
In the study, doctors also did very poorly after removing rubber gloves, and didn’t think it was important to wash after removing gloves. The belief is the hands never get dirty. But the bacteria are already there.
“It’s even more important to wash their hands when they put the gloves on and after they remove them. The bacteria that are normally on your hands grow, it’s like putting them in a warm moist environment. And if you remove the gloves you’re going to deposit these bacteria and everything that you touch,” says Mayo.
Internists, or internal medicine specialists were most likely to wash their hands—they did so 87 percent of the time. Anesthesiologists were the worst--only 23 percent of the time did they wash their hands. 3 out of 4 doctors said they were motivated to do better when confronted after not washing their hands. They did better when they knew someone was watching.
Amazingly, 2/3rds of physicians perceived hand washing as a difficult task, especially those with a high workload! “It’s not just the soap it’s the time,” says Mayo.

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