Should people with germs on their clothes and hands be visiting the hospital?

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

So, what do you all think? Should we really be letting all these unclean people into the hospital? They come in straight off the street, after handling money at the store, using public restrooms, getting in their dirty cars, picking their boogers while waiting at the light. They haven't been trained in handwashing or universal precautions, and who knows where those hands have been.

Have we really stopped to reflect on the effects that our loose visiting policies have on our patients? What about those grubby little kids running the hallways, touching the walls and handrails, doorknobs, and crawling on grandma's bed. And then, if grandma comes down with MRSA during her hospital stay, who is to blame? Why, the nurses naturally.

[by_stander22, LPN]

Well, we can't avoid getting in touch with germs and you know that. In our hospital, all patient's room have this hand sanitizer dispenser wherein visitors, HC professionals can use before touching the patient and before leaving the patient's room. This can prevent cross-contamination. It doesn't take more time than doing the handwashing if they're in a hurry. The patient can also use it if he/she wants/needs to. Moreover, children aren't allowed to enter the hospital premises as a visitor. Security guards implement this strictly. If parents really insist to let their child enter then they need the permission of the infection control committee to be allowed to, so that precautions can be followed. Furthermore, immunodepressed patients should be put on a reverse isolation precautions.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I am on a mother/baby floor and people bring their kids up all the time. If they are 12 and under, only siblings of the new baby can come up. If they are above 12, they can be anyone's kids. It would be wonderful if visiting policy were strictly enforced, but it's not. People who put up a big enough fuss about it generally get their way (don't get me started on that one).

I don't know. It would be great if we could culture people's hands and nares at the door to see who's germy so as to not let them in, but until that happens, I don't see a stop nor a cure.

[soulofme]

I say don't even let them in the country...LOL!

[Jolie, BSN]

The germy people you describe don't sound much different from the averge health care worker who also handles money on a typical day, uses public rest rooms, drives a grungy car, blows his/her nose, etc.

Frankly, I don't think the average Joe Visitor can hold a candle to the infection control messes professionals have created by overusing antibiotics, feeding antibiotics and steroids to animals in the food chain, promoting the unnecessary use of anti-bacterial soaps in the general population, etc.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

If germy people cannot visit hopsitals, then health care workers should not be permitted to care for patients. We have lots and lots of germs on our clothes and we move from patient to patient.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

What about when visitors leave the hospital in the same clothes, then stop by the store? Shouldn't they change their clothes first? I was thinking that Fox news ought to do a special on that, don't you agree?

[Jolie, BSN]

I'm a little confused by your posts. Are visitors germy coming into the hospital, thus making our patients sick? Or are they germy leaving the hospital, thus making their neighbors sick?

What are your visitors doing that their clothes become so germy? Are they climbing into bed with the patient? Are they refusing to comply with isolation gowning when necessary (c-diff, for examle)? Are they changing soiled dressings?

I don't think that the average (well-behaved) visitor becomes any more contaminated spending a few minutes in the hospital than at the grocery store, an elementary school or a day care.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Germs are everywhere. The best we can do is educate patients and families and use universal precautions ourselves. When I was in the hospital I would tell families they can use the alcohol based hand rubs when entering and exiting rooms. Sometimes all they need is permission to do so.

[HealthShepherd]

The opening post is a satire on this thread from yesterday:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/contaminated-scrubs-do-372672.html

(Apparently, Fox did a bit about the horror of nurses being out in public after coming out of the hospital).

I liked Firestarter's post, but I can see how it would be confusing if you hadn't seen the other thread.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

When I took my Microbiology class, the dirtiest place was an elevator button EWWWW! And food store shopping cart double EWWWWW! Think of all the little kids you see with their mouths on those EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

Actually what grosses me out is the people who lay on the floor in the ER waiting room, hospital room or let their babies crawl/kids play on the floor in THE DIRTY ER!!!! I am usually pretty graphic and cannot get the germs I KNOW to be there out of my mind!:barf01:

:barf02:Yuck!!!!

M

[truern]

Rabble-rouser

I say we scrub them all down with stiff bristle brushes and then dip them in alcohol before letting them in the door!!