Sharing is great. Highly recommend it. Well, except during flu season! Okay, so still share, just not the germs. Neither you nor your caregivers needs to get a virus ever, but especially during the recovery process. But, it is hard to ask people (or remember to ask people) to wash/sanitize their hands upon entering. So, we made it easier for our guests/practitioners... we put up signs.
Now, I know signs can seem less than beautiful in a home (as opposed to an institution), but it's worth it. We have a "please sanitize your hands before entering- thank you" sign on the front door, and a second one on the table in the kitchen (which you have to go through to get to the bed in the living room). The sign in the kitchen is in a clear plastic frame so that it stands up, and stands out. The hand sanitizer is beside the sign on the table too, so no one forgets to use it on their way through. It works well, and people now do it without even thinking about it. What is fantastic too is that delivery people are doing the same, even though they're not aware of what illness is in this house. Hooray!
Aside from protecting germs from others from coming into your home, hand sanitizer is also good for use at the bedside. Anytime you touch your wound (for example) you should hand sanitize. The same is to be said of an infection that you may have etc. it's good of you to protect others from your germs if relevantt. I keep wet ones (hand wipes) at the bedside and use them before eating etc. to keep my hands from falling off out of dryness but use the hand sanitizer as well when necessary.
Just one last note on the use of antibacterial hand sanitizer: they are not all created equal. The ones you usually pick up in the grocery store are not always the hospital grade sanitizers. In normal life this isn't all that important, but if your immune is compromised because of illness, or stress from caregiving, then the type/use of sanitizer is relevant.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Happy sanitizing!
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