It could happen to you.
Hospitals. The word alone makes some of us cringe while others see it as the next best thing to a stay at a resort or spa. For the group that falls into the latter view, write me...I'll help you find a good shrink.
Recently I have found myself a reluctant guest in several hospitals. I say reluctant because I will wait until whatever condition I have has escalated to an intolerable stage before I trot myself to a doctor. By that time, the doctor needs a whole team to put this body back together again! My poor family and friends! I'd be a millionaire several times over if I was paid for every, "I told you so!" they yelled at me.
My numerous stays, especially this last one, has caused me to take a closer look at the care received within the last six months. I'm sad to say, even with the best of care (and I use the term best rather loosely!) a lot of hospitals are terrible!
Filthy emergency and hospital rooms; dirty, dusty equipment; staff shortages due to budget cuts; patients being ignored by hospital staff and incompetence are just a few of the transgressions I witnessed during my stays.
Another issue I had (and I mean that literally!) was a nosocomial infection or you may know it better as hospital-acquired infection (HAI). In my case, I had acquired pneumonia. Did you know that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States there are over one million hospital acquired infections to which a patient may become vulnerable? If that's not enough to make your hair stand on end, think about this...approximately 100,000 people die from hospital-acquired infections each year. Who needs the Boogeyman when we have real horrors such as HAI?
While there are no guarantees that the following suggestions will safeguard you or your loved ones from acquiring HAI, it might help to shore up the odds in your favor.
1.) Make sure that doctors and healthcare workers either sanitize or wash their hands before touching you, your medications or anything else that may come in contact with you.
2.) If you notice that your doctor or healthcare attendant is ill, ask them it they wouldn't mind wearing a mask while in your presence.
3.) When going for a test or being examined, make sure that the paper sheeting or cloth sheet are changed after the last patient. This may seem like an obvious task, but I have actually been in an examining room, the paper creased and marked from the last patient and the medical assistant caught an attitude when I asked her for fresh paper. Her reasoning: the earlier patient only sat there for five minutes.
4.) Last, but far from least, are your visitors or if you share a semi-private room their visitors as well. Restrooms are provided for guests visiting patients in the hospital. If you feel uncomfortable asking visitors to not use the restroom provided in your room. Have one of the staff post a sign requiring the guest to use the facilities specifically appointed for them.
These are only a few tips but hopefully they will help you have a healthier and safer stay if you ever find yourself in the hospital or even the doctor's office. Below are other articles you might be interested in regarding hospital acquired infections.
Related articles
- Report on Hospital Acquired Infection in CA Released (thielst.typepad.com)
- Hospital Acquired Infections cost $45 Billion Annually; 9 of every 200 Hospital Patients Will Become Infected in the Hospital (prweb.com)
- What Hospitals Won't Tell You - Vital Strategies that Could Save Your Life (blogginghounds.wordpress.com)
- How hospitals are implementing lean healthcare practices (medcitynews.com)
- Degmor Health Inc. Positioned to Reduce Healthcare Acquired Infections (prweb.com)
- Zakaria: Every year, 100k Americans die from hospital-acquired infections (globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com)
- Number of patients picking up life-threatening infections has doubled in just two years (dailymail.co.uk)
- Alcohol-Based Wipes Significantly More Effective than Rubs in Reducing Bacteria; Findings Could Impact Hospital-Acquired Infections (prweb.com)
- Vancouver Company Tackles Canada's 4th Largest Killer (prweb.com)
- The Patient's Checklist by Elizabeth Bailey (asourparentsage.net)
- Positive Deviance Research Continues to Impact Health Care System (rwjfblogs.typepad.com)
