a new idea ?

Who is your target market and how would you market your business? Would you do this for "hoarders" or the average joe?

The target market would be elderly patients between 65-85 with frequent hospital admissions between 1-3 admissions in varying facilities ie. Hospitals. Rehab. Snf. As well as homecare for patients that were recently discharged. Here is where my marketing plan would come into play market those services to homecare agencies

I'm curious as to what course of action you'd have in mind in the [inevitable] event you find potentially pathogenic profiles of whatever is being cultured. Also, I'm not sure how valuable this information would be. It is one thing to say bacteria is there, is another thing to say that this bacteria has a potential to cause infection/harm.

Patient A may have an immunocompromise sufficient to make an assumption about whether being in contact with certain organisms pose a threat; however the same exposure to patient B might not raise the same assumptions. I guess, what I'm saying is, I'm not sure where the "RN" comes to play in the picture. I love the idea, I'm a huge fan of preventative health and think there can be more done in a patient's home to prevent readmissions and help with overall health care comsumption and the overall congestive problem due to poor health maintenance. However I cant help but wonder what might come of such "diagnostic" information.

"Well, you have some E. Coli growing on your bathroom sink, this can put you at risk for XYZ if exposed, my recommendation would be to clean with ABC solution or implement ABC hygiene practices." ... I like this particular model, however I don't see how lab swabs would be needed as a prerequisite to simply saying "XYZ bacteria can be common pathogens found in the home and ABC practices/disinfectants can help prevent exposure." Which is undoubtably cheaper as it forgoes the lab diagnostic itself (which costs time/money) and still provides roughly the same benefit.

Unless you plan to swab, recommend cleaning interventions, and reswab to check result--which is still cumbersome and cost-draining.

I'm only being devils advocate because I actually really like this idea, and would like to see it hold water some how.

Best of luck!

thanks just beechy great points , i would swab the persons home and creat a list of bacteria and there cfu (conlony forming units ) which would show the higher number the more probatiltiy of infection, than utilizing the correct solution to kill or reduce infection risk . of course my report would organize the bacteria from higher risk to lower risk. anyone could potenially do this business (possible franchise opp?) an rn would have an ablity to discuss the bacteria and what disease it would cause. several bacteria notably cdiff wont be removed with public disinfectants . and a good hospital grade cleaning solution would be adequate. i plan on talking to our hospital room cleaners to see what they use. althrough even here its not enough. our hospital swabs our computers and gives us a reading of cfus on the spot anything above 5000 indicates a higher risk of infection or transfering bacteria to patients . this is where i got the idea , now couple that with recent public outbreaks particular to gyms and locker rooms of mrsa and you have a need. i personally would love to know what bacteria is in my home . especally because i have a pain in the ass cat. you could even reduce exposure of pregnant women to toxoplamosis.i plan to try a dry run on my own home to check practacality . i just need a lab to do the swabs . havent figured that out yet .

Idk. Personally of I thought my house or a loved one's house potentially was housing pathogenic bacteria, I'd rather pay for the whole house to be cleaned or learn how it should be cleaned rather than paying for the lab testing, depending on how much it costs.

But that's me personally, on the other hand, I could totally see it working for other people, especially for those who have germophibic or hypochondriac type inclinations.

Toxoplasmosis, I know for women who've had a cat for a while you build up a resistance to it no? That one I would couple perhaps with a blood test to measure resistance if possible.

The thing is that where perhaps the most dangerous diseases are acquired is in the hospital or LTC setting. Most transmissions in that setting come from healthcare workers, not fomites. Bacteria found at home has already colonized the residents. Or more accurately, the residents are the source of most environmental bacteria.

Where your idea is more relevant is prophlaxis consulting and testing for business and industry. HVAC relayed respiratory illness for example. A micro degree would seem more pertinent than a nursing degree for any such business model though.

Who would pay you for your service??

From my old PH days, the most at-risk pts were the elderly on fixed income and those receiving public assistance, 'care & 'caid. These would be those most LEAST able to afford your service.