Students are receiving less-than-stellar grades on basic hand hygiene. Parents should hit the books too. School nurses and health professionals come out on top. And teachers aren’t far behind.

These are the results of the third Clean Hands Report Card® issued by The Soap and Detergent Association. “With cold and flu season upon us, good hand hygiene is vital to infection control. Cleaning our hands is especially critical at school and at work, where germs lurk in every corner and in every handshake,” says Nancy Bock, SDA Vice President of Education at The Soap and Detergent Association.

The 2007 Clean Hands Report Card1 pt was based on an omnibus telephone survey of 664 parents/guardians (male and female) of children in grades K–12 and school nurses, health professionals, students, and teachers who completed surveys at a series of professional conferences. The survey questioned respondents’ hand hygiene behavior and knowledge of the importance of regularly cleaning one’s hands throughout the day.

Report Card Summary
School Nurses/Health Professionals: Overall Grade – B+: Not surprisingly, school nurses/health professionals report having the most knowledge about the benefits of hand hygiene – and put it into practice. Nearly every respondent knows that cleaning hands regularly is the number-one way to prevent colds and flu. Further, 64 percent washed their hands more than 10 times each day. A near-perfect amount (97 percent) reports always washing hands after going to the bathroom, while a majority reports always or frequently washing hands before eating lunch and after coughing and sneezing.

Teachers: Overall Grade – B-: Teachers seem to understand the importance of clean hands in preventing colds and flu (98 percent). Yet they do not always put this knowledge into practice, with only passable marks on always washing hands at three key touch points (after bathroom use, before lunch, and after coughing or sneezing).

Parents: Overall Grade – C: The very mixed responses provided by parents show how much education is needed coming into cold and flu season. A full 50 percent failed to note the number-one way to prevent colds and flu (“clean hands regularly”) and almost one-third (31 percent) seldom or never wash their hands after coughing or sneezing. But mothers are better than fathers when it comes to hand hygiene. Dads are significantly more likely than moms to report they never wash their hands after they cough or sneeze, while moms are more likely to report that they always do.

Students: Overall Grade – D: Of all the groups studied, students demonstrate an immediate need for across-the-board education about clean hands. Handwashing simply is not a priority for this group: 22 percent do not wash their hands every time they use the bathroom; 31 percent seldom or never wash their hands before eating lunchl, and 41 percent seldom or never wash their hands after coughing or sneezing.

For a more detailed summary of the survey results, click here. To download or print a PDF of the Clean Hands Report Card® results, click here.