A new report showed that nurses are more conscientious hand washers than doctors

A study in this week's Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal used identical soap dispensers installed next to the sinks in the consulting room of a primary care surgery facility. Each surgery team consisted of two nurses and three doctors.

The soap dispensers were all filled to the same level on the same day at the start of the study. Over one year, the amount of soap used and the number of consultations for each member of the team were recorded to calculate the ratio of hand washes to patients seen.

Nursing staff showed greater attention to personal hygiene than doctors. The best performing nurse washed her hands at least twice as often or twice as thoroughly as the best performing doctor.

The report stressed that hand washing is a quick, cheap and easy way of preventing the spread of infection.