[muhaha]

Taken from CNN...

Don't let a hospital kill you

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/01...ion/index.html

I dont know... I can't imagine as a nurse my patient asking me "I read in the paper that some doctors are reusing syringes. I can't imagine anyone would do that. Do you?"

Its the same thing as people wearing those big buttons saying "Ask me if I have washed my hands today"...I know its good for the patients to be vigilant about things like this but I think it would be wierd if someone asked me that! I would think they would know hospitals use NEW syringes and such...its not like anyone would admit to giving injections with a used syringe anyway if asked....

However, it is the patients right to inquire about these matters...I would just be not used to being asked these questions

[hikernurse]

Sometimes I really don't like reading those articles. The point is good; taking control of your health is important, but the implication is that all healthcare workers are careless and not safe.

"Wash your hands to keep my grandpa safe" . I don't even want to go there. I wash my hands to keep all patients--and myself--safe.

I read an article recently about how dangerous children's hospitals were and that parents needed to confront the nurses about the meds their children were getting, making sure to ask the name and dose. Not necessarily a bad idea, as a parent, I'd ask what was being given (although as a nurse, I always make a point of telling the patient the med before I give it). I doubt that most parents have any idea of the appropriate dosage, though.

Maybe I'm the only one bugged by this, but I think the majority of nurses out there are already doing what should be done.

[miko014]

"People need to start participating instead of just being spectators when it comes to their medical care," she says.

That's what it all comes down to, though, isn't it? People need to ask questions if they don't understand. If I explain something to you, and you saym, "oh, okay", I think you get it. If you don't get it, you need to be honest with me and tell me that. I always ask, "do you have any questions?", but people rarely say yes. I am 100% about education - I love it. But I can't help you if you don't ask!

I find it insulting when people ask me if I have washed my hands, but I have to remember that there are nurses out there who aren't as dilligent as they should be about it. I have only had that question asked to me a few times, becasue I let my pts see me use the alcohol stuff before I do anything with them. The only time I get truly offended is when I get the crazy families who are very aggessive in the way they ask questions. It's really hard to feel like you have to defend your actions when you haven't done anything wrong. But then again, there is a list of people I work with who I would not want to take care of my family, so I can understand why people might be a bit wary. It's all in the way they ask these questions though. People just need to be polite about it, and we just need to be understanding in the way we answer. But that kind of goes for the whole world, doesn't it? If we could all just be polite and respectful to each other, we would all be better off.

[SillyStudent]

I recently had a patient's family insist that I use soap and water at the sink as opposed to the hand sanitizer at the door. It went like this:

Family: You need to wash your hands before you touch Mom.

Nurse: *still rubbing hands* I always use the sanitizer that we keep at the door before I touch a patient. If my hands become visibly soiled, and many times throughout the day, I use soap and water.

Family: We would prefer you use soap and water.

Nurse: Why?

Family: *Flustered, but still righteous* Because it's better!

Nurse: Actually, as long as the alcohol content of the sanitizer is high enough, it is as effective, or more effective than handwashing. It depends on the person's handwashing technique.

Family: What do you mean?

Nurse: Let me get you something I have printed out
*nurse runs off and gets an article about hand sanitizer and soap and water studies that cite no discernable difference between handwashing and sanitizer, as published by the CDC*

Family: *scans the page for 3 seconds* We want you to use soap and water.

Nurse: Ok

*headdesk*

So much for education.

[talaxandra]

Education is clearly the most important thing. In the comments made on the CNN article a man wrote about how he self-discharged from Emergency because the staff wanted to site an IV and he objected. Rather than explaining why taking the fluids and/or meds orally wasn't advisable for a pateint vomiting blood (!), he says he was told that it was protocol, and (when he objected) that he'd be forcibly restrained if he refused.

I'm torn between "he sounds like a righteous pain" and "if he understood he may have stayed."

Aaand back to our topic - if I were asked if the syringe I was using was 'pre-loved' and I hadn't read this thread I think I'd collapse at the mere idea. No, we don't reuse syringes except when flushing meds and H2O down enteric tubes, and never on different patients. Never seen it, never heard of it, and simply can't imagine it.

[JVanRN]

After hearing about that clinic in Vegas, I don't blame patients for being terrified about "multi-use" syringes. That is an extremely scary thought.

But I also can't imagine any person that was doing that answering that question honestly. It's not like they were reusing them because they didn't know any better. They had to have KNOWN that YOU DON"T DO THAT.

I can't imagine anyone saying "Sure...I've used this syringe on about 5 people before you. I think it's a great cost saving measure, and so does management...now just hold your arm out..."

[Iamlicensed!]

Maybe in Guantanamo, or for terroristas etc, or confirmed child rapists, etc, but never never in any book or ethical workplace is a used needle allowed anywhere but placed into a sharps container, soon as it is used disposed of properly so the doctor or nurse also does not infect him/herself or others in case the pt has aids or worse, that 10 year window on aids alone is enough to kill ya.
Hospice has residence centers where some night shift nurses were found leaving used needles in the pts armchairs, imagine that lawsuit if a visitor or child sat in that chair, Gadzooks...Used needles of those dying with
oh lets say Hep C , aids, and more... One of the many reasons I gave a two weeks notice before they twisted any legitimate complaint I might have while a newbie there and it come back to haunt me, as if I was dumb enough to tell oh about things like: Needles left out in pts rooms , pts medicines being left out in reach of other pts, etc, pts allowed to lie about things constantly and therefore being able to play staff against each other , in the pts twisted manipulation games since they felt the need to control some area of their life. I left as a C n a to a better paying, more compassionate caring environment that truly care for its pts, families and understands employees need their bosses to stand up for them if unity is to ever be accomplished, To patronize a pt in the manner this place described we had to do was a dignity issue I could not handle so instead of
becoming bitter or falling for the hype I left (No pun intended) I started there with education as a legal asst, after taking Patient Care Tech classes and getting Licensed as a PCT, and C N a 's have licenses since 2007 as far as I know .

[TiredMD]

Originally Posted by muhaha

I dont know... I can't imagine as a nurse my patient asking me "I read in the paper that some doctors are reusing syringes. I can't imagine anyone would do that. Do you?"

I always point out to these patients that it was CRNAs who were reusing the syringes, not physicians.

Gotta protect your rep . . .

[YellowFinchFan]

Originally Posted by TiredMD

I always point out to these patients that it was CRNAs who were reusing the syringes, not physicians.

Gotta protect your rep . . .

[carebearRN08]

Originally Posted by TiredMD

I always point out to these patients that it was CRNAs who were reusing the syringes, not physicians.

Gotta protect your rep . . .

Ummm, okay........ let's not let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch? I'm not a CRNA, but I'm sure not all CRNAs do this, god forbid.