As our NAEYC Accreditation renewal get’s closer and closer, your going to be hearing a lot about it. One of the biggest portion’s of this is to remember to wash your hands upon entering the building. It can be a little difficult to remember at times, which is why we have been stressing it a lot this month to get it to become a habit.

According to the NAEYC the practices regaurding hand washing are for:

  • Staff members and those children who are developmentally able to learn personal hygiene are taught hand-washing procedures and are periodically monitored.
  •  Hand washing is required by all staff, volunteers, and children when hand washing would reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases to themselves and to others
  • Staff assist children with hand washing as needed to successfully complete the task. Children wash either independently or with staff assistance.

Hands should always be washed when:

  • on arrival for the day;
  • after diapering or using the toilet (use of wet wipes is acceptable for infants);
  • after handling body fluids (e.g., blowing or wiping a nose, coughing on a hand, or touching any mucus, blood, or vomit);
  • before meals and snacks, before preparing or serving food, or after handling any raw food that requires cooking (e.g., meat, eggs, poultry);
  • after playing in water that is shared by two or more people;
  • after handling pets and other animals or any materials such as sand, dirt, or surfaces that might be contaminated by contact with animals; and
  • when moving from one group to another (e.g., visiting) that involves contact with infants and toddlers/twos.

Adults Should also wash their hands:

  • before and after feeding a child;
  • before and after administering medication;
  •  after assisting a child with toileting; and
  • after handling garbage or cleaning.

And last but not least, Proper hand washing procedures are followed by adults and children and include:

  • using liquid soap and running water;
  •  rubbing hands vigorously for at least 10 seconds, including back of hands, wrists, between fingers, under and around any jewelry, and under fingernails; rinsing well; drying hands with a paper towel, a single-use towel, or a dryer; and avoiding touching the faucet with just-washed hands (e.g., by using a paper towel to turn off water ).

Thank you for working with us on renewing our NAEYC accrediation.

Taken from http://www.idph.state.ia.us/hcci/common/pdf/naeyc/standard_5_naeyc_criterion.pdf