The newer alcohol based hand cleansers are actually really gentle on hands. We have a nationally known ID/epidemiologist who supports their use, as well as a not-as-well-known-but-pretty-darn-brilliant surgical ID specialist who agrees. And as the best compliance rates in publications are around 60% of appropriate handwashing, anything that makes it faster and more efficient is better! I think most patients won't notice the change just because they weren't seeing it happen before, particularly amongst the people who interact with them most frequently (nurses, etc.) A colleague said she read that if nurses actually washed their hands for the recommended 3 minutes before and after each patient, they would spend 4 hours doing so for each 12 hours shift. Shannon Tierney McElearney, MD General Surgery mom to almost-1-year-old nursling Jack UVA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html