[originally published in KCN, December 2014]
I stood at the clinical white sink and depressed the pedal with my right foot. Hot water streamed from the spigot and hit my hands. I began scrubbing. Three minutes to be exact — all the way up to the elbows. I was being watched. This is the protocol here at the hospital where my newborn is currently receiving care.
As I settled into a comfortable washing rhythm I began thinking about how this very procedure — washing hands — was once scoffed and ridiculed. And, yet, now it is completely accepted. It’s common sense. And in this case, required. Dr. Semmelweis would have been proud. (more…)
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