I had an orientation on Monday for my job at the hospital, and I especially appreciated the hygiene part! I am a huge proponent of good hygiene! Lots of the stuff discussed in the hygiene section and shown on the video have been things I have been reiterating! The discussion and video primarily focused on hand-washing. First of all, 10-15 seconds of washing your hands is just fine. Colonies of bacteria live on your hands all the time since they are warm and soft. Then our hands touch our faces, mouths, eyes... and the disgusting bacteria gets into us. Some can lead to sickness. In hospital settings, when doctors, nurses, and staff don't wash their hands when dealing with patients, the results can be disastrous! Some medical students did some studies and research. They swabbed payphones, public keyboards, bathroom doors, salt and pepper shakers, etc, and everything they swabbed had tons of bacteria colonies. Feces bacteria was among some of the disgusting things they found on these everyday objects. I realize we're all full of germs, but you really don't need more of it, especially someone else's feces bacteria in your food, mouth, or face! Anyway, the medical students also stayed in bathrooms and observed people's hand-washing etiquette. 53% of the men washed their hands after using the restroom, and 83% of the women washed theirs. Think of how nasty it is when someone who's making your sandwich has colonies of bacteria growing at a fast rate up and down his palm and fingers. I've posted about the proper way to manuever around the bathroom before, but I'll do a repeat for the sake of humankind. Interestingly, the video said the exact same thing I've been telling people. Use paper towels to open stall doors, faucets, to get paper towels, and to exit the restroom. This avoids contact with the colonies of bacteria multiplying on all these things. Anyway, the video made me not want to eat in public anymore. =P It was so disgusting!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT be afraid to ask your doctor if s/he has washed her/his hands before coming to see you. When they are trained, they are told not to take offense because patients should ask. I'm going to ask EVERYONE I encounter. ;) Especially at restaurants!

For some gruesome pictures of bacteria on our your hands this very moment and some more info on hand-washing and bacteria, go here.