AY Honors/Home Nursing/Answer Key

Schoolchildren washing their hands before eating lunch.

Hand washing is the act of cleansing the hands with water or other liquid, with or without the use of soap or other detergents, for the purpose of removing soil or microorganisms.

Purpose

The main purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens (including bacteria or viruses) and chemicals which can cause disease. This is especially important for people who handle food or work in the medical field.

Hand washing as compensation

Excessive hand washing is commonly seen as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

It has also been found that people, after having recalled or contemplated unethical acts, tend to wash hands more often than others, and tend to value hand washing equipment more. Furthermore, those who are allowed to wash their hands after such a contemplation are less likely to engage in other "cleansing" compensatory actions, such as volunteering.

Symbolic hand washing

• Ablution in the Hebrew Bible
• Ablution in Judaism
• Wudu in Islam
• Ablution in the Bahá'í Faith
• Ablution in Hinduism
• Misogi in Shintoism

Idioms

When someone "washes their hands of" something, this means that they are declaring their unwillingness to take responsibility for it or share complicity in it. Matthew 27:24 gives an account of Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the decision to crucify Jesus: "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it."

See also

• E. coli O157:H7
• Antibiotic resistance
• Ignaz Semmelweis
• Soap dispenser

External links

• Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics on hand washing
• Centers for Disease Control on hand hygiene in healthcare settings
• Hand Washing Video - Grey Bruce Health Unit, Canada
• Hand washing - Do's and Dont's