Hand washing
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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.
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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 or cook food. With the emergence of diseases that are resistant to antibiotics, hand washing is taking on new urgency.
Personal Hand Washing
To maintain good hygiene, hands should always be washed after using the toilet, changing a diaper or tending to someone who is sick; before eating; before handling or cooking food and after handling raw meat, fish or poultry. Conventionally, the use of soap and running water and the washing of all surfaces thoroughly, including under fingernails is seen as necessary. One should rub wet, soapy hands together outside the stream of running water for at least 10 seconds, before rinsing throughly (soap does not kill pathogens, it merely traps them, so all soap must be removed) and then drying with a clean or disposable towel. After drying a dry paper towel should be used to turn of water and open exit door. Moisturizing lotion is often recommended to keep the hands from drying out, should ones hands require washing more than a few times per day.
Medical hand washing
The proper washing of hands in a medical setting generally consists of the use of generous amounts of soap and water to lather and rub each part of ones hands systematically. Hands should be rubbed together with digits interlocking. If there is debris under fingernails, a bristle brush is often used to remove it. Finally, it is necessary to rinse well and wipe dry with a paper towel. After drying a dry paper towel should be used to turn of water and open exit door.
To 'scrub' one's hands for a surgical operation, one requires a tap that can be turned on and off without touching with the hands, some chlorhexidine or iodine wash, sterile towels for drying the hands after washing, a sterile brush for scrubbing and another sterile instrument for cleaning under the fingernails. All jewellery should be removed. This procedure requires washing the hands and forearms up to the elbows, and one must in this situation ensure that all parts of the hands and forearms are well scrubbed several times. When rinsing, it is ensured at all times that one does not allow water to drip back from the elbow to your hands. When done hands are dried with the sterile cloth and the surgical gown is donned.
Excessive hand washing is commonly seen as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Symbolic hand washing
When one "washes ones 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."