Image by Lykle de Vries via Flickr
The news this week that gas pumps are the dirtiest object people touch commonly during their day (followed by the handles on public mailboxes, escalator rails, ATM buttons, parking meters, crosswalk buttons and vending machine buttons) reminded me about the need for everyone to wash their hands regularly, but particularly doctors.
Back in 2008 I wrote about the problem with doctors not washing their hands enough and what you as a patient can do about it in an article giving ten creative ways to get them to wash their hands. That advice is still worth thinking about today.
And, of course, we all can do with a reminder about washing our hands. Not just at the obvious times like after visiting the bathroom, but maybe just after arriving at work having pumped gas, stopped by the post office and gotten some cash from the ATM for example.