Confessions of a Germaphobic Hospital Worker

When I first started working at a local hospital, I can remember thinking, "Oh no. I'm going to be sick every day!" After all, isn't it generally assumed that hospitals are full of germs and viruses -- buggers that are just waiting to make me their next victim? Over the years I've done a pretty good job of convincing myself that everything from the H1N1 (Swine Flu) or next cold outbreak is just waiting to pounce on me. I mean, if those germs aren't floating around in the air or hovering on surfaces, at least there are certainly a whole lot of sick people in these walls eager to infect me, right?

Turns out my fears have largely never been realized. You see, in the past eleven years of working in a hospital, I've never been healthier. And that has had me wondering ... why am I healthier here? Could it be because I've become a little compulsive - even germaphobic -- when it comes to staying away from the buggies?

Keeping safe from the Buggers.

It is widely accepted that hand washing is one of the best practices you can adopt in keeping yourself and the people around you safe. But what about drying your hands? We recently had the automatic towel dispensers installed throughout our facility, but before that, you'd always find me advancing the towel first. Then, washing my hands. That way I could just rip off the paper towel without "re-germing" my hands by hitting the handle. Makes sense, right? And the towel? Why just toss it so soon? Instead, I'll carry it with me, using it as a protective shield to use on the next encountered door knob.

Or, how about keeping track of which hand touches public door knobs and surfaces? I'm usually more aware of this while heading to the cafeteria. If I'm not using a napkin on all the doors I pass thru, then I intentionally open the doors with only my left hand, thus keeping my "cleaner" right hand for all that direct food handling. And if I pass a hand sanitizer station, I can douse the left hand, leaving the disinfectant on longer, killing more of those buggies. (And somehow that burger just tastes better from the right hand too.)

And speaking of the cafeteria - ever been through a salad bar with those metal tongs at each food station? How often are they left floating atop the lettuce bowl? Whenever I see that I think about that tong handle coming into contact with the lettuce. A lot of folks have touched that tong handle, right? So, why not take from the lettuce at the back of the bowl? It's cleaner, right? I'm convinced of it.

Of course, there are also plenty of other germy moments in the Information Systems department I work in. (And I don't mean computer viruses.) How about those keyboards and mice? Uhhh.... yuk.

So, is all this strange behavior really keeping me healthier and germ free?

I was pretty convinced, until I looked down at my laptop's keyboard...

I'd better go wash my hands.