Handwashing is proven to be a simple and effective way to maintain a sanitary work environment in hospitals — and can even save lives.
But a new study from the Université de Montréal suggests that in some of the province's hospitals, employees aren't washing their hands in as many as half the cases where it's required.
CJAD 800 chief medical expert Dr. Mitch Shulman says part of the problem in older hospitals is that facilities just aren't built for staff to wash their hands constantly.
"Many of the older facilities just aren't set up to facilitate that," Dr. Mitch says.
On the bright side, Dr. Mitch says even patients are more vigilant these days.
"I'll walk into a room, and sometimes a patient will remind me, 'doctor, did you wash your hands?' And I don't mind that," he says. "Sometimes a reminder like that is exactly what it takes to make sure everyone's on the same page together."
And there's more good news — Dr. Mitch says even if the handwashing rate among doctors, nurses and other medical staff sits at anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent, it's still a vast improvement from where those figures were about a decade ago.