I had ear surgery about a month ago. The nurse assigned to prep me had been coughing continuously for about 15 minutes and then approached the bed. She reached for the IV kit and I had to stop her in front of several docs and ask her to wash her hands. She complied but apparently, it never occurred to her without my request.
At my follow-up appointment with the MD, he noticed the book website on my business card and asked about it. Following an explanation, he inquired as to how the hospital had performed prior to, during and after my surgery. I shared this experience with him. He replied, "We always struggle with this problem. That's why we have alcohol dispensers outside each room." I responded by saying, "And I'm sure you know that c. diff is not longer sensitive to alcohol." His eyes got big, as in "oops, she got me!" and he has since appointed me to the hospital's Otolaryngology Department's new Medical Advisory Board.
In last month's AARP bulletin, there was an article reporting out the results of a Case Western Reserve VA study:
Routine cleaning isn’t enough to protect you from C. diff. Researchers at Case Western Reserve and Cleveland VA Medical Center found that after routing cleaning at a hospital, 78 percent of surfaces were still contaminated. To kill the germ, you need to use bleach…
One study reported that 39 percent of medical personnel didn’t know that C. diff could be spread on stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and other equipment. About two-thirds of medical staff were unaware they should clean their hands with soap and water, because alcohol sanitizers don’t kill this superbug.
What can you do to protect yourself? Insist that everyone treating you clean their hands before touching you.
Clean your own hands thoroughly before eating. Do not touch your hands to your lips. Ask family to bring wipes containing bleach to clean the items around you bed.
When you leave the hospital, assume any belongings you bring home are contaminated. Do not mix clothes from the hospital with the family wash; wash with bleach. Regular laundry detergent does not kill C. diff.
If you are visiting someone in the hospital, be careful about eating in the cafeteria or a restaurant where the staff go in their scrubs or uniforms. These uniforms could be covered in invisible superbugs. More than 20 percent of nurse’s uniforms had C. diff on them at the end of a workday, according to one study.
AARP Bulletin, November 2008
Things are definitely NOT getting better!
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