Quotes About Handwashing

Another illustration of the role of fatigue among clinicians is the lower rate of appropriate handwashing during the end of hospital shifts. (Handwashing turns out to be noisy, too.)

The authors first replicated this effect, showing that watching a short film clip of something physically disgusting made subjects more morally judgmental—unless they had washed their hands after watching the film. Another study suggests that the washing decreases emotional arousal, as it decreased the diameter of subjects' pupils.

Naturally, etiquette books order handwashing before as well as after meals, but the practice also appears, with a frequency that borders on obsession, in poetry. Poets found it hard to describe a banquet or even a meal without affirming that everyone washed their hands.

Does anyone know if we can shower now? Or should we just keep washing our hands?

In other words, Americans know they should wash their hands. They just do not translate that knowledge into action. This is particularly true for men. A quantitative assessment of eighty-five scientific studies found that, compared to men, women were better handwashers