Re: "An Act to Prevent MRSA Infections" Maine LD 1684
I'm so sorry for your loss, and know your father lives on in you. Your grieving energy is well used, especially the anger reaction to a loved one's death. I'd like to suggest a few more items, some of which which could be ADDED as ammendments to the MRSA bill. I have been an IC nurse for many years.
1. STOP it before it can spread, by
not admitting patients who could be treated as
outpatients. Certainly that includes a minor fracture when no systemic treatment is involved, and which could be followed up as outpatient status. The person responsible for utilization would list any admission that didn't meet criteria consistent for that, and present it at their committee meetings. Once a
responsible spending of health care dollars system is implemented, that will be key to maintaining budgets.
2. Maintain the same rigorous standards for IC and cleanliness in outpatient clinics, physicians' offices, PT, RT, radiology and inpatient PT facilities (I've seen dust and exudate in those places, stay there for weeks, if not all the months where I was treated). I offered to do it, but was turned down, due to OSHA. I'd also include the public's side of drug store prescription area counters.
3. Routine yearly cultures of staff's hands, throats, and ears would allow treatment without charge if MRSA was found, so carriers of it in healthcare settings would be treated; and retention of infected staff occur, once 2 follow up cultures from the area of their bodies where it had been discovered, were negative (unless it was an open wound which had thoroughly healed). There should be no loss of employment for positive staff.
3. Do periodic cultures on all equipment (incl all pillows - covers laundered daily and weights and stretchy ropes) where patients could be exposed (like monthly). That costs $$$, but exceedingly less than treatment and wrongful death for one patient.
4. Do cultures for all open wounds a week following antibiotic treatment, in hospital or after discharge. Physicians or their office staff performing cultures/HH personnel report those negative and positive results in a timely manner, submitting POC with positive ones, to PHD's bacteriology
and nursing departments, on reports sent to them. (MRSA is a reportable disease in most states.)
5. When screening at risk patients (which should include newborn, aged, and immunologically compromised, the follow up with a home visit after hospitalization, even if neg. cultures were obtained, would catch any "between the cracks" folks.
6. Last, but definitely not least, is the addition of the words "with soap"
on all "Wash your hands" signs, along with (this is my fantasy) an automateded 2 minute song (like the ones in greeting cards) played every time the water tap(s) are turned on. The taps should be shut off (not allowing rinsing) while that is played. That way, if someone left a patient's
or rest room without properly washing their hands, someone else there would know it, and gently but loudly enough to be heard say, "You forgot to wash your hands with soap!" The same mechanism could be employed at the threshold of patients' rooms - but I'm not sure how it would distinguish those who actually had contact with the patient from those who were not exposed/walking in.
It would be noisier......but perhaps a vibrating, light flashing thing (like restaurants have for those whose table is available) could be used. That would involve engineering, but again at less cost than treatment of a MRSA infected patient.
I'd love to convince hospital administrators to have physicians put a sensor - cleaned, of course, in their pocket upon entering the hospital (at the place where they flick the light on letting their presence there be known), which vibrated at the threshold to patients' rooms if they didn't wash their hands when leaving it. That could also help identify those who billed for a visit without actually seeing a patient....... which would spare $$$ when tax payers' money is involved.
Another method could be a policy that said all physicians had to wear their name badges (with picture that had to be returned when they left the hospital), and a sensor embedded in the badge would light up whenever handwashing didn't occur (again water tap and soap dispensor activated), after they'd been in a patient's room.
Granted, there would always be a few who would try to hack into or ignore the system, but then if they billed for a patient visit they hadn't made.......
I hope this has been helpful. I enjoyed writing it, and hope MRSA will someday be relegated to history (not a patient's).
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