Another Department of Health publication:
This document presents an analysis of the contribution of organisational factors, such as bed occupancy rates, cleanliness and use of temporary staffing; to understand the variations in MRSA rates between different hospitals. The paper also examines how these relationships may have changed over time.
Published 18 Dec 2007. Read it here!
January 13, 2009 at 6:37 am |
This proves we cannot clean the environment using toxic chemicals to reduce spreading bacterial infections in hospitals. Excessive use of antiseptics has now resulted in these bacteria becoming resistant to antiseptics and detergents. We must reduce contaminated hospital waste to reduce bacterial colonization in the hospitals and educate staff hospitals about aseptic technique. Advising staff and public to wash their hands is not enough as excessive washing (more than 10 times/day) was found to increase bacterial count in the hands.
When doctors identify mistakes, point them out to nurses, these nurses’ gang-up, and start making life difficult for the doctors. When working in the hospital, I have often seen staff wearing gloves touching other objects without realising they contaminate these gloves. Handling patients using these contaminated gloves is more likely to result in introducing bacteria through cannula, drips, catheters and post surgical wounds.
Most patients think washing hand before wearing un-sterile gloves is adequate to protect them; unfortunately, this is not true as the authors of this paper state.
We must start penalising these staff for endangering patients life and encouraging bacterial survival in the hospitals and stop waste money trying to clean the hospitals.