Hospital Infection Preventionists Have Been Trying To Get Health Professionals To Wash Their Hands..

[global1]

to control infections in hospitals. Yes - something as basic as washing their hands has been a struggle for Infection Control/Prevention professionals in hospitals. We're spending all this time and energy on ebola - when everyday MRSA and C.Diff are probably more dangerous and harming more people and costing our healthcare system millions and millions of dollars a year.

I'm hoping that all this attention being given to ebola will cause health professionals dealing with patients on a day to day basis in hospitals, in long term care facilities and in the home to think about washing their hands to protect not only their patients - but themselves.

Just google 'infection control' and read some of the articles that will come up about the dangers of infections in hospitals. Link to sites like APIC and check out all the products that are out there to get people to wash their hands.

I know that ebola is scary - but there are other infectious organisms out there that are more of a threat to us all on a day to day basis.

If we learn anything during this ebola frenzy - I hope it's that all health practitioners need to be better at proper hand hygiene on a day to day basis.

[kestrel91316]

1. Uh oh, now you've stepped in it.

We're NOT allowed to point out the terrible problem of hospital staff failing to wash hands, which leads to 100k+ human deaths every year from nosocomial infections.

Nurses in particular are paragons of perfection and HAVE NEVER SPREAD PATHOGENS EVER.

Get it right or the alerts on you will never let up. The Nurse Defense Patrol never rests.

Besides, it's all Obama and Frieden and CDC's fault. They haven't personally conducted training on it.

[Avalux]

2. I've witnessed many a physician go from one patient's room to another without washing up in between.

The hospital had little sinks in the hallway for convenience, yet they'd walk right past. I don't work in a hospital anymore and I'd like to think the problem has improved, but I don't think so. They either think it's a waste of time, or no big deal, or worse, don't even think about it.

[japple]

11. I work in a hospital and the word is that doctors are the worst offenders. With hand sanitizer foam

and gloves in EVERY patient room, it has gotten better. I hope the ebola issues will force all hospital employees to focus on doing what can be done to prevent spread of all infections.

[cyberswede]

3. There's even an app for that

A recent review of 96 hand hygiene studies from hospitals in industrialized nations found an overall hand hygiene adherence rate of 40 percent among health care workers. A new mobile app should make it easier to keep tabs on hand hygiene.

The availability of the free iScrub Lite 1.5 app on May 5 at the iTunes store coincides with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” campaign. The campaign, which is part of the WHO’s “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” annual initiative, spells out the standard opportunities for health care workers to practice hand hygiene.

http://www.futurity.org/iscrub-app-keeps-tabs-on-hand-washing/

[Baitball Blogger]

4. I don't want to say where it originated, but there's a school of thought

that believes that your skin has natural anti-bacteria fighting properties and that over-washing the hands removes those super power abilities.

I'm sure that you will be able to surmise how I feel about it based on my exaggeration.

[jeff47]

5. Don't forget that washing your hands

exposes you to (dramatic chord) chemicals

[Diclotican]

6. global1

global1

I have been in a hospital a few times the last years - and every nurse, doctor and even the now and then handyman - is rather fanatical about cleaning their hands - as the plague was just around the corner... And if anything - it have been more and more a issue - mostly because of the danger of cross-contamination from one person to another person of pathogens who could be a issue if your health are not the best....

And it have been conventional wisdoms - at least in europe since the early 1900s - that you should clean your hands when you walk from one patient - to another patient as pathogens and a lot of other nasty pestilence can contaminate a lot of different people - who's health is not the best...

Even my GP - is cleaning his hands - if he had to check on me - so I guess it is like that for a reason...

Diclotican

[global1]

10. I Don't Doubt What You Are Saying But Understand That Some Hospitals Do Better Than Others.....

in hand hygiene. Overall though - hand hygiene is a big problem for Infection Preventionist's in hospitals. Compliance has gotten better but still has a long way to go. HAI's (healthcare acquired infections) are still a big problem resulting in many deaths, re-hospitalizations and costing us a lot of money in the process.

Here is a link to an article that could give you a good overview of the problem: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK133371/

Now mind you - I'm a heath professional myself. I regularly go to Infection Control Meetings. There is an organization called APIC.

Association of Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) Here's a link to their website: http://www.apic.org/

Here's another link to some staggering statistics associated with HAI's: http://www.patientsafetyfocus.com/patient-safety-current-st.html

Please don't think that I'm minimizing the threat of ebola. I just want to point out that there has been a problem in our healthcare systems for years - not as scary as ebola - but just as deadly - perhaps more deadly than ebola and it is right there under our nose.

The media has given a lot of airtime to ebola. They now need to publicize the fact that HAI's are probably more of an everyday threat to Americans and give HAI's as much attention or more than ebola.

We're coming close to a very critical election - and this ebola thing is being desperately fanned and being politicized by the Repubs to scare the American Public and get them to the voting booth to get them to take control of Congress (House & Senate) to further raise havoc on this country. They are doing a good job of scaring us and politicizing this event in their own sneaky way and the MSM is helping them along the way.

We don't have a Surgeon General because of them. Public Health funding is suffering because of them and this ebola outbreak is mostly their fault because of their mantra of less government.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. after massive back surgery,

I caught MERSA. It was a real bitch.

[rocktivity]

8. They're getting so desparate, they're sponsoring a contest

http://yourhhrsnews.com

http://apic.org/Resource_/TinyMceFileManager/consumers_professionals/AC14-Handout_WhatAreHAIs_hiq.pdf


rocktivity

[moonbeam23]

9. This IS a problem

After my little "medical catastrophe" a few years ago, i was in 2 hospitals in 2 states for a total of 22 days...the smaller one had much much better care overall, especially with the nurses...

Even there it was an issue...i watched everyone like a hawk and i had to remind people a few times to wash up before they touched me....everyone was cool about it except for one male nurse who was all snippy and pouty...well fuck him...i didn't really care about his fee-fees...

i was extremely lucky and blessed and manage to escape without infection!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Read up on Ignaz Semmelweis.

He was trying to get doctors to wash their hands way back in the 19th century to prevent childbed fever, which was fatal to new mothers (puerperal fever).

This has literally been going on for over a century.