Though many of us understand the importance of hygiene in the workplace, some remain unaware of exactly why we practice these infection control protocols in the first place. As practitioners, we are tasked with utilizing those sanitation practices, to the best of our abilities to reduce the spread of illness and disease from one client to the next and to ourselves. Knowing when to wash and then doing so effectively makes easy work of this routine. Having a solid understanding of not only how to properly wash hands, but also your personal responsibility can bring to light your role in infection control. It is ultimately the responsibility of each one of us to protect ourselves and those around us.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES

There are multiple statistics that have been published by various entities that support frequent and effective handwashing to reduce communicable illness. According to the Center for Disease Control, “More than 50% of healthy persons have staphylococcus aureus living in or on their nasal passages, throats, hair, or skin.” Without the proper handwashing protocol in place, it stands to be believed that serious illness could be easily transferred during the simplest of spa or clinical services. With most practitioners coming in direct contact with their clients, it is of paramount importance that these individuals follow scientifically proven methods of hand hygiene, such as that that has been published by the Center for Disease Control, to practice their individual responsibilities of reducing the spread of sickness. Finding protocols and guidelines that adhere to supported research but that also suites your professional needs are the most important part of the everyday in this industry. Being vigilant is key as information is evolving and updating regularly.

FOLLOWING THE RIGHT RULES

In the aesthetics industry, hand hygiene and infection control are serious business that most try their best to embrace and follow to specificity. However, with so many guidelines and information available on the internet today, it can be difficult to decipher what the best practice is. The Mayo Clinic has published a do’s and don’ts guideline on their website that helps to narrow down the specifics of proper hand washing. First, they suggest always washing hands according to protocol – prior to food handling, personal service work, and before touching any mucosa or the eyes. Additionally, they recommend washing hands directly after preparing food, using the restroom, blowing your nose, sneezing, or coughing, when hands are visibly dirty, and so on. These examples make clear when we should be washing our hands during the treatment protocol. Such as during the treatment room setup, before greeting the client, and before starting the treatment procedure but also utilizing an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer during treatment and then making sure to wash our hands after the treatment has concluded. In conjunction, we can start to see where hand washing falls into the infection control process and just how important it really is.

Hand hygiene and our ability to reduce the spread of illness is only as robust as our hand washing is effective. When done properly, hand washing can essentially reduce the transmission of disease and sickness. With the many questions into proper technique, the do’s and do not’s, and the basic tools needed, it is best to do your research to find the correct information.

TECHNIQUE

The website Very Well Health has created a list of compiled information to help you make sound decisions everyday hygiene. The handwashing recommendations they included comes directly from the Center for Disease Control and states, “Hand washing is critical to the prevention of infection and should be done frequently.” The correct technique includes using warm running water, soap, and a friction-type movement, like rubbing, to create a rich lather. This lather should then be manipulated over the palms, over the backs of the hands, between the fingers, and under the nails if a free edge exists. This should take place for a minimum of 20 seconds, for which they recommend singing your ABC’s, twice, to be sure it is been long enough. You’ll then rinse your hands well with the running water, preferably starting at the wrists, and then thoroughly drying hands with a paper towel. It is also recommended to turn off the water, if possible, with that paper towel – considering the faucet was turned with dirty hands. This will hopefully prevent cross-contamination of your now clean hands. Although hand washing is the pinnacle of hand hygiene, using an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer can temporarily reduce the number of microbes on the surface of the skin until the hands can be physically cleaned. Using the hand sanitizer much like you would the lather from soap, you should dispense enough to coat both hands thoroughly and work it around the hands with a rubbing or friction motion until the product can completely dry. Gloves can also provide an effective barrier to disease until hand washing can be done. Practicing good hand hygiene is the simplest and easiest way to protect yourself and others and should be included in all infection control protocols within your service menu offerings.

One of the first things we learn as practitioners is to wash our hands and do so often. This will not only protect us from illness, but it is also a crucial aspect of infection control. By taking care to properly clean and sanitize the hands before and after each client interaction, we can uphold our individual responsibilities to help protect those around us. Take the time to sing a song and effectively wash your hands. Washing your hands is easy and reducing the spread of illness is much easier with good hand washing and proper infection control. It is not only good business; it is undoubtedly the biggest and most important part of the job.

Brittany Facio is a Phoenix-based educator-turned-business development manager, passionate about how proper aesthetics education and sophisticated protocol implementation can create business-changing revenue. As a business development manager, she is responsible for not only educating her clients on skin care products and protocols, both on an individual basis and in regional training seminars, but also for providing marketing, merchandising, and branding assistance to generate leads and capture a new audience. When she is not working, Facio can be found enjoying play time with her family and Havanese rescue, Spruce, trying a new dinner recipe, and binge-watching comedies on Netflix.