Posted on 03/09/2007 11:47:23 AM PST by JZelle
The alarmingly high number of life-threatening infections occurring in U.S. hospitals has prompted medical staffs and state lawmakers to focus on better awareness and take steps to reduce the spread. "For too long" hospitals and dialysis centers "have kept patient infections a dirty secret," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumer Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign. "But now, more states are moving to make infection rates public, so consumers can make smarter health care choices, and hospitals have a stronger incentive to improve patient care."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Now give them a break. They've been so worried about the important things like whether or not you have a gun in your home.
You are supposed to wash your hands before you cut someone open.
You are not supposed to use the same pair of surgical gloves all day!
And what kind of insurance you have.
Remember, NEVER... I mean, ALWAYS cover your mouth when you sneeze while operating!
The Netherlands have made good progress against resistant staph - testing and hygiene.
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/em/v05n03/0503-222.asp
I was fairly appalled when I was in the hospital - at least in the regular rooms - there was a much higher quality of nurse in the ICU. A nurse putting a needle through my IV port without cleaning the port first. Dried blood on the bed frame. Toilet that visibly sprayed into the air AND had backflow.
And just imagine when they put two new mothers in the same room - there you are sharing a bathroom, both dripping blood... I flushed with my foot and used paper towels to turn on the sink and open the door. No wonder they want to give newborns Hepatitis shots.
Mrs VS
Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.
And keep your nails short.
PETA is happy but people ain't
The AARP magazine had a very good article on this about a month ago or so. I know, but their publication often has good articles. I was surprised to learn that more hospital professionals have begun taking short cuts like not washing their hands like they did at one time because of medical advances like antibiotics. It's really hurting patients and hospitals.
Several states have taken leadership roles in resuming safer practices like washing hands, etc. PA, where I live, is one and I know that our local hospital is taking part in the study. My husband was diagnosed with diabetes last year and we had been considering moving further out to a more rural area. Instead, we've decided to stay closer in to have better access to a hospital that we know to be excellent. And clean.
I was not aware this was ever a secret.
Medical literature is full of this, including descriptions of the two superbugs and the mechanism for sharing "drug pumps" among bacterial strains.
Not sure if you did any research on Lisa McGiffert, but she has ties to many "progressive" organizations. In other words, she's a shill and must have some sort of stake in past, present and future lawsuits against hospitals.
First she "finds" a problem, then she bankrupts the hospital to ensure that they fix "said problem" then they'll eventually move in for the kill to promote "Mother Government Health Care, Inc." because it's OBVIOUS that the Private Sector just isn't doing their job, blah, blah, blah...
Just my conclusion after a quick "google" of her name. :)
It's a fairly simplistic attitude, but we really don't need all the anti-bacterial scrubs and soaps and dish detergents in our homes. At home, some good old Ivory soap, liberally applied then followed up with hydrogen peroxide if you have a wound is probably all the average family needs.
In the end, these products increase the number of resistant bugs out there. If these things were largely used in medical facilities rather than homes over the last 15 years, I suspect the situation might be different.
It takes government regulation to protect people. Incentive to improve patient care? Silly me. I though hospitals were about taking care of people.
What a sad commentary that an organization should have to be required by law to do what they should be doing for their customers anyway.
Good post! I'd be even more afraid of a gov't run hospital.
I just want to be able to see my doctor's record. How many people died under his/her care? Was his/her medical license pulled in any other state? Is there any pending lawsuits? Why can I not have this information?
My RN (of 30 some years) mother-in-law agrees with you. She says "soap, hot water and SCRUB until it hurts". I get scratched and gouged a lot (between my hobbies and my work). Once and awhile I need hydrogen peroxide, but rarely require anything stronger to heal - that includes an occasional wound contaminated with metal bits.
I've known two people who died as a result of infections to which they were exposed in a hospital. One was a third grade classmate of our oldest son. I knew he had Cystic Fibrosis, and went to the hospital for inhalation therapy from time to time. At the end of his third grade year, he went for his therapy, and while there, caught a massive lung infection and was dead within a week. We didn't know about it until we returned from vacation a week later.
Our two older sons' elementary school English teacher was diagnosed with TWO different forms of leukemia. She underwent chemo for six weeks, and was in remission. She went back to the hospital for one of her treatments, and caught some infection which caused a nasty case of pneumonia. She had nothing with which to fight the disease, and she also died within a week.
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