Tips for visiting hospital patients

Having visitors while you’re a patient in a hospital can have a positive impact on your recovery. But there can also be negative consequences if visitors don’t adhere to necessary infection control rules.

“It’s natural for people to feel stressed, anxious or even excited – such as in the case of a new baby – when they are seeing a friend or loved one in hospital,” said Mirza Ali, an Infection Control Practitioner at The Scarborough Hospital.

“However, for the safety of all patients, visitors should take the time to be aware of certain policies and procedures.”

Mirza recommends hospital visitors take into account the following:

1. Wash or sanitize your hands when you enter the hospital, before you touch the patient, and after you leave their room.
2. Ensure you are aware of any personal protective equipment that may need to be worn while you are in the patient’s room, such as masks, gowns or gloves. This information will be posted on the door of the patient’s room. Speak to someone at the nursing station if you are unsure about the requirements.
3. Family members and those who provide care to hospitalized patients should strongly consider getting vaccinated against seasonal flu.
4. Refrain from going into other patient rooms or staff areas while you are visiting.
5. Postpone or avoid visiting if you are ill or have any symptoms that are contagious. These symptoms include:

• Vomiting;
• Diarrhea;
• Symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection, including cough, sore throat, runny nose and/or fever;
• Eye infection or pink eye;
• Chicken pox, shingles, measles or mumps;
• Infectious rashes.

“It’s important to remember that these rules are in place to protect our patients, as well as their family members and other visitors,” stresses Mirza.

“Compliance with hand hygiene before and after visiting a patient, and the use of personal protective equipment where required, are important steps that prevent the transfer of disease both inside and outside of the hospital.”

Top five tips for back-to-school hand hygiene

As students gear up for another year at school, it’s a good time to remind them about the importance of proper hand hygiene, says Vydia Nankoosingh, Interim Manager of Infection Prevention and Control at The Scarborough Hospital. “Schools are busy places, and it’s easy to pick up bacteria and viruses on lockers, door handles, hand rails, sporting equipment and many other public surfaces. Good hand hygiene can help protect you from a number of preventable illnesses.”

Vydia says there are a few simple things all students can do to keep their hands clean while at school—and the most important one is to carry a travel size container of hand sanitizer foam or gel in your backpack.

“Those little bottles of sanitizer do a great job of killing harmful bacteria on your hands, providing you clean them correctly,” Vydia says. “The problem is, most people don’t clean their hands often enough, or thoroughly enough, to be totally effective.”

To stay healthy, and to prevent the spread of infections to others, students should follow these simple tips:

1. Remove any rings and rub your hands together, palm-to-palm, using a dime-sized amount of sanitizer. Then use your palms to rub sanitizer on the back of your hands and between your fingers.  Rub the sanitizer on each finger individually, paying particular attention to the outside of your thumbs. Continue until the sanitizer is dry
2. Remember that alcohol-based hand sanitizer can dry your skin. Look for products that contain moisturizers to counteract the drying effect.
3. Hand sanitizer is not a substitute for soap and water if your hands are visibly soiled. If you can see dirt on your hands, soap and water is the way to go.
4. For young children, remember that alcohol-based sanitizers can be poisonous if ingested in significant quantities. Parents should teach younger children about proper use of the product, and monitor the quantity used each day. Only send your child to school with a mini-bottle.
5. Always clean your hands after using the bathroom and before eating, as well as after gym class or recess.