Washing With Anti- Bacterial Soaps
Evidence based practices have become a common practice in the development of patient healthcare practice in modern day medicine. In nursing the principle is based upon the fundamental notion that all decisions that are made should be based on studies that are research based, the research studies based on a set of specific norms as well as their interpretation.
This essay paper considers the evidence based practices that are fundamental in hand washing as well as the effects that arise from the act of washing a patient’s hands with antibacterial soaps. An antibacterial soap refers to the select group or variety of soap products or cleaning agents that contain active ingredients that are antibacterial in nature. In its clear sense, these soaps serve to kill bacteria as well as a wide range of microbes. Nonetheless they do not have the ability to deactivate viruses. The most common ingredient that is found within these soaps is Triclosan. Needless to say, not any one single antibacterial hand wash is capable of eliminating all microbes, since it may have effect on some microbes while the effect is lessened or even absent in other unrelated pathogenic microorganisms.
This paper seeks to bring out the evidences that are related to studies which show the effects of anti bacterial soaps in hand washing. The paper describes the pros and cons that are associated with the practice. This is in relation to evidence based nursing. Evidence based nursing has developed interest among scholars due to its tenets that are based on the identification of concrete research conclusions and implementing them in the nursing procedures that are practically applied in the field. This will consistently be done from gathering information from the approved nursing websites.
The essence of hand washing with antibacterial soaps cannot be underestimated as they play a fundamental role in the treatment and care of the patient. This will determine how fast the patient gets better. To begin with improper hand washing may lead to the transmission of health care related disease-causing –microorganisms from one patient to another or even from the patient to the health care worker (HWC). The pathogens can be obtained from draining wounds, infected wounds as well as at times on colonized zones of normal skin area on a particular patient’s skin. Such dangers pose a threat to both the HCW as well as the other patients under the care of the same HCW.
There are various preparations that are utilized in the hand washing process. first there is the plain antimicrobial soap that can be used in hand washing which are normal detergents having the antibacterial agents absent, then there is the alcohol based hand antiseptics , which contain variety of alcohols in their constitution as the major agent of disinfection these include iso-propanol or even ethanol. Then there is Chlorhexidine which was an early disinfectant that came into the market in the early 50’s.
A study that was conducted by the department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases showed the effectiveness of hand washing with bacterial soaps to be more effective in preventing diarrheal diseases as opposed to hand washing with water only as well as washing with water and an antimicrobial soap. from the experiment, it was discovered that washing with hand water alone, lowered the number of the diarrhea causing bacteria to 23%, hand washing with anti microbial soap and water only reduced the contamination to 8% (Burton,Cobb,Donachie,Judah,Curtis,& Schmidt). From these findings , it was conclusively agreed that hand washing with anti bacterial soaps was of major importance in the protection of transmittable diseases.
Additionally it can be noted that the use of antibacterial hand wash is in line with the certified code of conduct in the protection and insurance of patient safety. This is in line with the transmissions that can occur from HCW to other patients. On the other hand, several demerits have been leveled against the implementation and the use of antibacterial soaps in hand washing. These arguments arise from the idea that the chemicals that have been utilized in the manufacture of these antibacterial soaps could have harmful effect if constantly used. They are leveled against the HCW’s who are constantly using the antibacterial hand washing soaps.
According to research findings by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the antibacterial soaps are bought due to the idea of the consumers that they will offer some protection against contagious diseases like the spread of influenza viruses like the H1N1 virus. The research found out that, despite the efficiency of such soaps, they also had a down side in that they had several negative effects; to begin with, they caused skin dryness. This has affected people with sensitive dry skin to the extent that The American Skin Association advised against the use of these products on people with dry skin. Additionally the constant use of antibacterial soaps has been proven to cause hormonal imbalances in human and animal body systems. This is attributed to the fact that the active ingredient of the antibacterial soaps, triclosan was capable of altering the hormonal make up in an organism, by tampering with the gene expressions that is associated with the regulation of testosterone. It is in this light that several other studies have been conducted. It has been suggested by some group of researcher that there could be the probability that the washing of hands with antibacterial soaps has no effect at all on the killing of microbial pathogens. It is also thought that it is no different from the normal soap that has no antibacterial active ingredients (Paventi, 2011).
Conclusively, the care given to patients in relation to hand washing is fundamental in the nursing field. This is because it enhances the safety of the HCW as well as the patient and other third party patients that the HCW comes into contact with. According to the research paper prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research shows hand washing as the highly rated practice that requires a high level of compliance in clinical nursing methods.
Improvement and enhancement of hand washing is therefore fundamental and consequential within all nursing environments and should always be implemented with utmost care and due diligence.
Paventi, J. (2011). Effects of Antibacterial Soap on the Skin. Livestrong.com. retrieved on 24/03/2012 Retrieved from: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ptsafety/pdf/chap12.pdf
John, 2005. Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health Care Settings. CDC.com. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm
Burton, M. Cobb, E. Donachie, P. Judah, G. Curtis, V & Schmidt, W. (2011). The Effect of Hand washing with Water or Soap on bacterial Contamination of Hands. PubMed Central.com. retrieved on 24/3/2012. From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037063/
Fink , R., Thompson, C. & Bonnes, D. (2005). Overcoming barriers and promoting the use of research in practice. Journal of nursing Administration, 35(3), 121-129
