Hand Washing As a Nursing Diagnosis

Nursing diagnosis is different than a doctor's diagnosis. A doctor's diagnosis is aimed at naming the cause behind the symptoms that the patient is exhibiting. Separate from the diagnosis is the treatment and the prognosis, the outcome of the condition. A nursing diagnosis is geared toward explaining and treating the signs and symptoms that the patient exhibits or complains about and observing the results of the planned care that the nursing staff have come up with.

Hand washing is Important

• Hand washing is an important part of health care. It might seem like a simple step to the common public, but hand washing goes a long way in the prevention of unnecessary diseases. Not only does it stop the spread of disease from person to person, but it cuts the course length of communicable disease in a single person in half because people repeatedly touch themselves with the same infected hands, perpetuating the cycle of disease.

Hand washing as a Symptom, Not a Treatment

• If it were a symptom of a disease, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, it would have to be addressed primarily by the physician. Rarely it would be placed as a symptom of the more serious OCD condition, and steps would be taken to slow down or eliminate the overuse of hand washing.

Patient Care Plan

• Initially, the nurse would have to know if the condition of the patient was caused by bacteria or spores. This information would prompt the nurse to draw up a care plan to prevent the spread of the bacteria from that person to another or to stop the disease from getting worse.

Course of Action

• The nurse would write in "hand washing" as a course of treatment so that no spread of the condition is made to himself or to another person. The nurse would then observe the patient's signs or symptoms of recovery for a specific amount of time during his hospital stay.

  When a person washes her hands with soap and water for at least 15 seconds, the rigorous action of the soapy water cleansing the hands eliminates bacteria and harmful spores. Spores are not killed by the bacteria, but the rigorous motion of the hands exhibiting friction during the wash sends the spores down the drain.

Results

• If the patient has significant improvement after the recommended hand washing, the nurse will write down the sign of improvement in the patient care plan chart to be seen by the attending physician. If the patient still has a problem after hand washing treatment, the nurse will have information that points to another underlying cause of the condition.