I had to post this one. I was watching GOOD MORNING AMERICA. After The interview with Brad Pitt, they started talking about hospital infections. It was very interesting.
My only problem, they did not mention that alot of these "super bugs" are the result of the misuse of antibiotics by the public
Many Americans may not realize it, but some hospitals in the United States are rampant with infection-causing bacteria. According to some experts, more than 100,000 people die every year from infections contracted in hospitals.
This morning, Betsy McCaughey, founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, appeared on "Good Morning America" to talk to viewers about how they can protect themselves from contracting infections in hospitals. Some of her tips include:
* Don't be afraid to ask the doctor to wash his or her hands and clean stethoscope or other equipment with alcohol.
* At least a week before surgery, start using an antibacterial soap and don't shave, which can cause nicks and cuts for bacteria to enter.
* Ask your doctor about taking pre-surgery antibiotics.
* Limit the number of people in the operating room.
* Try to avoid the use of a urinary catheter if possible -- they are a commom infection entry point.
If you'd like more information, go to hospitalinfectionrates.org.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
I have an issue about not putting in foleys. Mind you, I work mostly Ortho. LOL with a Fx hip goes to the OR, they replace the hip and then are sent to PACU and then to the floor, no foley. I don't know about you guys, but if I had my hip replaced, I may not want to have to use a bed pan for a day or 2. On top of the post op confusion, the pain would just be unreal. I have put foleys in to spare them futher pain, but should we have to wait for them to be awake after Sx to do it? Put it in in the OR. Take it out P.O. day 2-3. With the pre and post op abx, it should cut down on the UTI's and decrease the pain in the post-op period. How humane is it to cause so much pain in a 94 year old? Even with good pain control, turning a patient with new hip has got to be excruciating for them. If they wet the bed evry hour, that will increase the risk of skin breakdown and becomes another site for infection. After 2 days they can get up without screaming, and they have had a session or 2 with physio to learn how to get up properly. JMHO.
Jacquie
How sad! They don't even have a foley in surgery??? What if they pee the table? How good could that be? Maybe they're taking it out in PACU? My husband had an emergency appy last year and they cathed him in OR. but dcd it in PACU. He just had to have a hernia repair, and the biggest worry he had was "do I have to get a catheter again?" Such a baby. I told him to call the waaaambulance!!!!
How sad! They don't even have a foley in surgery??? What if they pee the table? How good could that be? Maybe they're taking it out in PACU? My husband had an emergency appy last year and they cathed him in OR. but dcd it in PACU. He just had to have a hernia repair, and the biggest worry he had was "do I have to get a catheter again?" Such a baby. I told him to call the waaaambulance!!!!
The nursing staff always seem to get the finger pointed at them if a pt develops an infection. However, what about the relatives who...don't wash their hands, sit on the bed, come in to visit with streaming colds? Or the doctors who go from bed to bed with their tie dangling down onto the pt? We always wear gloves and aprons when in the pt bedspace, and are constantly washing hands, but I read of a Bristol university study that showed that aprons attract bacteria and may actually increase the risk of infection. Did anyone else hear about that?
Yes I have heard a statement by a mother whose son died of a hospital infection. I guess there is a new Mother's against Infections group starting up. I am not sure if that is the right title. And so right about the antibiotics but what else have the MD's to offer.
And I have a great hairy back shaving story.... I worked in CCU and had to completely shave a very hairy Russian man for bypass surgery. He had no English but he had a mouthful of gold teeth and just kept smiling. After 30 mins of struggling feeling more and more embarrassed I took a break. His son came in, grabbed the razor and dry shaved his whole body in about 10 mins, and then asked for sheets to change the bed! The mounds of hair all round the patient were amazing!That day I learnt to dry shave rather than use water.
This group seems to disseminate information that is not based on research with the exception of a few references to the CDC. They are using scare tactics left and right. Their objective is admirable, but the means are not. I found the area where there are tips on protecting yourself before surgery. There it was, written like a fact that preop abx are "...often overlooked by busy staff." No reference. So I emailed them and asked for a reference to the research. We'll see. Meanwhile, I wanted to see who was running this organization. This led me to here...
Am I wrong? There is not a health professional of ANY kind listed here. The Dr is a PhD (of who knows what), just like the woman in the interview. He is the president of some other foundation which looks to be mostly political in nature.
FYI - This woman has never been in a position to determine whether or not a foley is indicated. You know, one of those suits who make policy.
And what's more, her Ph.D. is in Consititutional Law. She became a health policy expert 15 years ago when she read & critiqued Clinton's health care plan.
She's not a health care expert but a health policy expert. How irritating.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
She wrote me back a terse email ( apparently she missed the graduate class on professional courtesy) which referred me to some study by the RAND group, which she says was published in the NEJM in June 2003. I couldn't find what she was referring to, but I found some study done in 1992 involving preop abx being ordered too late. IE a surgeon ordering vanco when the pt is already in the OR. Vanco takes an hour to infuse.She says that this error (overlooking preop abx) is "well documented in the literature" but couldn't produce any other "literature." Maybe I'll have to do some more research. I guess it's a nit-picky thing, but it just irks me when the public gets just one more reason to believe we are idiots.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
And what's more, her Ph.D. is in Consititutional Law. She became a health policy expert 15 years ago when she read & critiqued Clinton's health care plan.
She's not a health care expert but a health policy expert. How irritating.
I suppose if I wanted to become a constitutional law expert, my BS in nursing should qualify me. But, then again, the public does need someone on their side who is not a health care professional - sort of like a consumer advocacy group. But I would have a little more respect for her if she would back up her recommendations with appropriate sources. (I'm a big "show me the evidence" person!)
If, in fact, the antibiotics "error" that she is speaking of is really the surgeon ordering the antibiotic too late, that would be a SURGEON error, not "busy hospital staff" "overlooking" giving the med. She makes it sound like stupid/lazy nurses not giving a med that has been ordered. If it is a physician error, she needs to say that, not attribute it to "busy hospital staff overlooking things".
HELLO, staff nurses do not have prescriptive authority. They can't just give whatever they feel like because they think the patient should get it. Evidently, that info isn't included in a constitutional law PhD program, even though that program obviously qualifies her as a health policy expert.
I did not find ONE health care-related, or even a science degree of any kind. She has a BA, an MA, and a PhD. (Of course it is not listed in the resume what her degrees happen to be in - how much sense does that make?). It states that her research focuses on health policy, patient safety, etc. but it does not make it clear what kind of scientific background she has to discern and objectively interpret the research. I don't know enough about her to judge her qualifications, but judging from her reply to pricklypear, she doesn't seem to have a problem misleading people, or at the very least manipulating the facts to support her position.
pricklypear
1,060 Posts
How sad! They don't even have a foley in surgery??? What if they pee the table? How good could that be? Maybe they're taking it out in PACU? My husband had an emergency appy last year and they cathed him in OR. but dcd it in PACU. He just had to have a hernia repair, and the biggest worry he had was "do I have to get a catheter again?" Such a baby. I told him to call the waaaambulance!!!!