Tork® Celebrates National School Nurse Day with Tips to Keep Kids Out of the Nurse’s Office

National School Nurse’s Day on May 12 is a time to honor some of the hardest working and oftentimes least appreciated members of the school staff who are charged with keeping an entire student body healthy. SCA Tissue’s Tork® brand and the Tork® Green Hygiene Council™ aim to lend a hand by offering helpful hand hygiene tips to reduce student trips to the nurse’s office.

 “Parents can play an important role in the health of their children and reinforce the messages that school nurses share every day by encouraging their kids to wash their hands at home and in school washrooms frequently and properly,” said Donna Duberg, Tork® Green Hygiene Council™ member and assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University. “It’s important to teach students proper hand hygiene techniques early on to ensure healthy, lifelong handwashing habits and reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses.”

Following are Duberg’s recommendations:

When should students wash their hands?
Good hand hygiene is especially important during flu seasons and when you are in school or other public places. Wash your hands often and dry them thoroughly. If available, use an instant hand sanitizer as a supplement between washes. To prevent infection and cross-contamination you should wash your hands:

• After arriving at school (especially if you ride the bus)
• Before meals or eating any food
  
• After visiting the washroom
  
• After sneezing
  
• After arriving home
  
• When hands are visibly dirty

What is the best way to wash and dry your hands?
When you go to a public washroom, washing your hands properly should take about as long as singing “Happy Birthday” twice. Here are some simple steps to follow:

• Wet hands with clean, warm water
• Apply soap
• Rub hands together vigorously and scrub all surfaces for 20 seconds. Remember to wash both of your thumbs as thumbs are quite often skipped in the handwashing process.
• Make sure to wash under nails, watches and jewelry since millions of germs gather there
• Rinse with clean water
  
• Dry hands with a single-use paper towel until they are completely dry
• Use the paper towel to avoid contact with frequently touched surfaces while leaving the washroom, such as the faucet and door handles
• Since hands are to be washed frequently, use mild and gentle soaps

After washing and drying your hands:

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
• Avoid close contact such as shaking hands or giving high-fives in the hall, especially with sick friends
  
• Cough or sneeze against your sleeve or in a paper tissue that you throw in a waste basket

About the Tork® Green Hygiene Council™ (TGHC)
Tork® created the Tork® Green Hygiene Council™ (TGHC) to assist in its ongoing commitment to providing environmentally friendly and hygienic away from home washroom solutions. Comprised of top professional and academic authorities from across the country on green building, corporate sustainability, hygiene and germ prevention, the TGHC is a council of four experts that offer holistic and trusted perspectives on how businesses can create sustainable and healthy work and home environments. The TGHC provides independent feedback and advice on Tork®’s environmentally and hygienically friendly initiatives, serves as valued professional resources to Tork®’s partners and customers and provides expertise and industry insight. The TGHC exists to enhance global awareness of proper sustainability and hygiene practices to make the world a greener, safer and cleaner place to live and work.