4.8 Skills Checklist: Hand Hygiene With Soap and Water
- Gather/Ensure Adequate Supplies: Soap and paper towels
- Procedure Steps:
- Remove jewelry according to agency policy; push your sleeves above your wrists.
- Turn on the water and adjust the flow so that the water is warm. Wet your hands thoroughly, keeping your hands and forearms lower than your elbows. Avoid splashing water on your uniform.
- Apply a palm-sized amount of hand soap.
- Perform hand hygiene using plenty of lather and friction for at least 15 seconds:
- Rub hands palm to palm
- Rub back of right and left hand (fingers interlaced)
- Rub palm to palm with fingers interlaced
- Perform rotational rubbing of left and right thumbs
- Rub your fingertips against the palm of your opposite hand
- Rub wrists
- Repeat sequence at least two times
- Keep fingertips pointing downward throughout
- Clean under your fingernails with disposable nail cleaner (if applicable).
- Wash for a minimum of 20 seconds.
- Keep your hands and forearms lower than your elbows during the entire washing.
- Rinse your hands with water, keeping your fingertips pointing down so water runs off your fingertips. Do not shake water from your hands.
- Do not lean against the sink or touch the inside of the sink during the hand-washing process.
- Dry your hands thoroughly from your fingers to wrists with a paper towel or air dryer.
- Dispose of the paper towel(s).
- Use a new paper towel to turn off the water.
- Dispose of the paper towel.
View a YouTube video[1] of an instructor demonstrating hand hygiene with soap and water:
- Chippewa Valley Technical College. (2022, December 3). Hand Hygiene With Soap and Water. [Video]. YouTube. Video licensed under CC BY 4.0. https://youtu.be/w29Ad7Cmsxo ↵
