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Poll: Do you think it is reasonable for the HSE to advise patients to ask health professionals whether they have washed their hands?
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* Please note that the results of the online poll represent just a snapshot of opinion from the site members who participate. The results of each poll do not necessarily represent the national picture. Participants are only allowed to vote once in each poll.
gabriel c Posted:
11/02/2008 19:36 |
| It is important that all health care professionals wash their hands after any procedure. If a patient sees a doctor, carer or nurse performing any procedure and then attend a resident immediately afterwards, without washing their hands ,then a gentle reminder is in the best interest of preventing cross infection and mandatory for the pursuit of hygiene and cleanliness. |
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Jane Posted:
11/02/2008 20:22 |
| No I don't. I think the amount of money being wasted on advertisements funded by the HSE is a national scandal. The ad about washing hands, and in particular the ad about mental health. How much are they costing at a time when our health service is crying out for sensible funding? |
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John(johnwilliams) Posted:
11/02/2008 20:41 |
| No, this is more HSE spin. This is the HSE answer to MRSA infection - blame the frontline healthcare workers. If it were that simple that soap and water would prevent it, MRSA would have been eliminated long ago. There is huge disparity in the prevelance of MRSA in different countries. Take Holland, which has one of the lowest MRSA levels in the world. There, the minute a patient is diagnosed with MRSA they are isolated in special individual rooms. Therefore the infection does not spread. Contrast that with Ireland. Whether or not you have MRSA infection, whether or not your immune sysytem is compmpromised through treatment or through illness you are all lumped into overcrowded wards. The HSE are past masters for blaming everyone else for all the ills of the health service except their own incompetence. |
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nk Posted:
11/02/2008 23:01 |
| I hope that it would be safe to assume that the health professionals have in fact washed their hands and am certain that the money being spent on this latest time waster would be better spent actually taking care of patients |
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Marti Posted:
12/02/2008 10:08 |
| It should be a good idea - a gentle reminder, but I would question the reaction of most healthcare professionals. If they are the kind that always clean their hands they will probably have no problem with the question. If they haven't, will they get defensive or aggressive? I think we'd all be a bit scared of upsetting the people who are responsible for our medical care. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
12/02/2008 13:38 |
| I'd agree with the notion that I'd rather see money spent on hospitals than this advertising! But if I was asking anyone had they washed their hands, it would be visitors, not staff as they are less likely to remember and just as likely to bring in germs! |
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Learn the hard way Posted:
12/02/2008 15:39 |
| I am 63 years old but I still would not risk incuring the wrath of the PRIMADONNAS who call themselves PROFESSIONALS. If they are indeed professional they should not need to be told to wash their hands like good little boys and girls. The HSE employees are solely responsible for the deplorable hygiene practices in hospitals which caused the present situation. The attempts to first blame visitors and now to transfer responsibility to patients is abdication of their responsibility. |
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Heather Posted:
14/02/2008 00:05 |
| I certainly would not and I cannot see a acute patient doing so either. John is right - the HSE is shifting blame again and instead of the proper resources they blame someone else and now ask others to do their dirty work - NO WAY |
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health worker Posted:
14/02/2008 16:04 |
| I agree with johnwilliams, I come from Scandinavia and was horrified when I saw the practise here for MRSA. In my country a patient diagnosed with MRSA would be immediatley isolated at the infection clinic, where they have the equipment and protective gear to cope with containing the bug. Here in Ireland I have seen MRSA patients sharing rooms with people who don't have it, and it is just not right! So I do think it is right to ask doctors, nurses and carers if they have washed their hands, and I would not be offended if I was asked the same. I am terrified with the thought that I would have to be admitted to hospital if I became ill. |
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Debbie Posted:
14/02/2008 16:18 |
| While there are many valid points here, people are too hung up on money and the cost of the advertising. The current problems in the healthcare system are little to do with money. Its all down to management issues. |
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gregot Posted:
14/02/2008 16:41 |
| Everytime you eat in a restaurant you dont ask if hands have been washed. its part of kitchen life and you have to assume it is done. Why is it not part of hospital life as a matter of course. The onus should always be on the professionals to act professionally. The spin on the ad makes it look as if it is up to each patient to make sure that they check if hands are washed and if something happens to them it could be because thay didnt ask in the first place. When the nuns ran the hygiene in the hospitals who asked if hands were washed? It certainly wasnt the patients. Why do they have to start now.? Another reason to fear going into hospital. |
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AMOS Posted:
14/02/2008 16:51 |
| I reluctantly ticked yes because I believe this is so important an issue that we should feel able to ask this question in the interests of our own health - if you asked would I be comfortable doing this then my answer would be no - I hope I would have the courage to do so but as expressed by other contributors I would be concerned about the reaction and therefore I would be concerned that less assertive and more vulnerable patients than me would find this even more difficult than I would. I agree we should not have to do this - but until standards improve sufficiently every avenue should be exploited to improve hygiene and at least the campaign paves the way for someone who is concerned to raise the issue - I wonder if the HSE has considered the amount of patients unable to contemplate asking this question due to their extreme ill health? |
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tearful teddy Posted:
14/02/2008 16:59 |
| Yes I do, it is our responsibility that we play a part, it may indeed be a ploy on behalf of the HSE but it does go some way with prevention. The HSE has got just about everything wrong with it. If we cannot do something small then we become complacent and except things as they are. I also believe Doctors are complacent due to time constraints and patients suffer. We have a right to feel safe from acquired disease and possiblity of death. Doctors too, must realise that patients have a right to ask doctors to behave sensibly something they find hard to stomach, we must draw the line at treating the docs as demi-gods and the HSE as being the sole problem solver. Patients must take on collective thinking if the HSE cannot or wont. |
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Moss Posted:
14/02/2008 17:10 |
| I don't think we should have to ask doctors and nurses if they have washed their hands. It is for them to remember........ they are supposedly the professionals. The hospitals would be better off if they spent the "advertising money" rather than wasting it....... I can just imagine asking a doctor if he has washed his hands, I cannot imagine him owning up and saying "no, actually I have not"......... This advertising is wasteful and the money would be better off spent elsewhere........ |
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Anonymous
Posted:
14/02/2008 17:13 |
| I would have thought that washing your hands is a very basic principle of Health Care . Putting this responsibility back on the patient is unacceptable, we have enough to worry about...... Has the health service really sunk to this level where health care professionals are forgetting to wash their hands!!! |
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Michael(HQO33678) Posted:
14/02/2008 17:33 |
| Of course the professionals themselves should be insisting that all personnel should observe strict hygiene proceedures alas they are more interested in protecting their own interests rather than that of the patient |
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Anonymous
Posted:
14/02/2008 18:30 |
| I think that this is shifting the responsibility for clean hands onto the patient - this is daft! Best practice should mean that the professionals take this responsibility on themselves. Can you imagine a seriously ill person antagonising his/her carers by asking them have they washed their hands? I can't! |
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Pixie Posted:
14/02/2008 19:12 |
| Total waste of money is this advertisement. Did it ever occur to anyone that if any patient had a contagious illness/infection of any kind that the Nurses and Doctors themselves would be the 1st to get it from them, if they did not adhere to hygiene practices? They wash their hands to protect themselves as much as to prevent cross infection. Secondly, unless you screen absolutely everyone in society, you cannot rule out how many people are actually carrying bugs and/or MRSA. Its a bit contradictory for the HSE to be spending money on such stupid adverts while they have a freeze on hiring staff. If they were serious about super bugs they would be employing more infection control nurses, not wasting money on tv ads, one would imagine. |
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Heather Posted:
14/02/2008 20:03 |
| Such balloney. Why are we so intent on allowing the HSE abdicate their responsibilities? It is their job to manage, it is our money paying them to do so, it is our money paying Civil Servants in the Department of Health, it is our money paying a Minister for Health and now they ask us to do their work? No folk, let us start a real campaign to ensure that all these employees of ours do their work properly or get out. |
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tearful teddy Posted:
14/02/2008 20:18 |
| Well WHO WILL YOU DEPEND ON when the HSE and the Doctors are obviously not taking responsibiliy? It is all very well saying its 'shifting the responsibility onto the patients' which it IS, but for a patient to be aware and have knowledge is a good thing, no longer do patients have to live in ignorance as in times past. Health is each and everyone of our concerns. What can we do if the professionals themselves are now ignoring what we all see and what THEY too see and are either too lazy or too busy making fast bucks to care? Well I personally care about my health and would ask doctors to wash their hands. I have also told a nurse on three occasions not to put needles back into canulas which were dropped on the floor back into my veins. Yes, I wonder what would happen if I was unconcious. But I wasnt, on any of these occassions, if I was and died, I'd be none the wiser! I don't trust doctors or politicians and while the system remains as it is I will do all in my power to protect myself and others if I can when it comes to health and cleanliness issues. |
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Heather Posted:
14/02/2008 21:00 |
| Very good point Pixie |
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nosey Posted:
14/02/2008 23:57 |
| Yes i think it only good practice by all Healthcare workers to adopt a wash and go mentality for their own welfare as well as Patients. I also know that if you challenge any of them you are marked as a S...Stirrer and you will find your Files been misslaid and missing ad nausiuium. I would remind the faint hearted to tread wearley as sooner or later you will end up in their A/E or Coronary Care Unit and then you will be a Hostage to their way of doing things and may not be to your benefit. All that said still demand the highest standard of Hygiene its your right. |
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tearful teddy Posted:
15/02/2008 09:35 |
| Nosey, Have to agree with you! I'm a stirrer and I'm being sent abroad for treatment. I wonder is that why. I know I am very sick and have been demanding and am rather an inigma but I do believe the doctors have to come down off their pedestal and behave like human beings. I feel its my right as a patient to ask, query, and demand certain standards. I can't really help it if all sorts of 'politics' is at play among the consultants as 'branding' a patient. For me that amounts to exclusion, bullying,malpractise, etc. Washing hands is the least they can do, and why should we get int trouble for demanding that? Gee, its a hard road to travel being sick in this country. |
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Delmarie Posted:
15/02/2008 09:35 |
| We are the customers - we have every right to express concern if it is noticed that health professionals have not washed their hands!!! |
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Cassie Posted:
15/02/2008 09:47 |
| No I certainly dont. I agree with Marti and 'Learn the hard way' to a certain extent. This should be the most basic task of all and it is not the reponsibility of patients to issue reminders - that is the HSE's job. Besides - the noton of haivng to remind a 5 year old to wash their hands is one thing - but a consultant - ludicrous. Also as Marti says, If they haven't, will they get defensive or aggressive? I think we'd all be a bit scared of upsetting the people who are responsible for our medical care. |
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sidaire Posted:
15/02/2008 10:13 |
| The idea itself seems ok. However, as much as I might like to ask them, I don't know if I would would have the confidence to do it. Also, and I believe v importantly, the people in the hospital are there because they are unwell, so in whatever way you want to understand it, it means they are not up to full strength. They are physically unwell, possibly in pain, weak and very possibly worring about their condition and while in that state, the HSE is saying "it's up to you to monitor the professionals work". What next? Will we ask the patient going for an op to check that the anaesthetist’s registration is up to date before allowing him/her to his/her work? Maybe one of the patients wouldn't mind going down to the kitchens and checking health and hygiene? |
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Lemmy Posted:
15/02/2008 11:23 |
| you would expect that you shouldn't have to tell an adult to wash their hands yet how many times have you seen somebody walk out of a public toilet without washing their hands? everyone in hospitals, from staff, patients to visitors have their role to play in hospital hygiene. |
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marie Posted:
15/02/2008 13:25 |
| The ! health ! ! service again passing the buck. It's the responsibility of the ! health service !, to ensure every employee wash their hands, have clean uniforms, clean shin and hair, and dress and carry out their duties, in a hygienic and responsible manner. And any one who does not, and puts the safety of patients at risk, should not only be FIRED ,they should found guilty of a crime =patient endangerment. And they personally should have to pay compensation to the patients. And the health and safety authority are also negligent, in failing in their duty and responsibility in not ensuring a safe environment, and work practices for patients. But hands are not the only bad practices. There are employees using instruments from patient to patient, with out cleaning, disinfecting, or sterilising. Once years ago none of this patient endangerment, patient neglect, would have been tolerated. Employees were held accountable and responsible. Now their is no accountability. And the system is drowning in CLINICAL NURSE MANAGERS, managers,supervisors, directors, co ordinators, etc etc. All on top salaries. And all a wast of space. Individuals should be sued, and pay compensation out of their own pocket. Not like the present system where their legal costs are paid by the tax payer. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
15/02/2008 14:20 |
| Why shouldnt a person ask a doctor if a person has washed their hands? after all its the patient who has to suffer if they havent and its a potentially life and death situation- i suspect the people posting here against the idea are pompous healthcare workers who are offended by the idea. Healthcare professionals hygiene is clearly a factor as well as it being the HSE's responsibility. I recommend asking every single time as you cannot be ever garaunteed that they have washed their hands no matter who they are. there is simply no argument against this in my mind and no reason why the HSE shouldnt promote the idea... |
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Grainne(WUY60192) Posted:
15/02/2008 15:37 |
| This campaign shows the HSE up for exactly the shambles that it has become. Telling people that they have to check that their healthcare professional has carried out the most basic hygiene is a disgrace. Is the HSE planning on ever taking responsibility for the state of the health system in this country? |
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antob Posted:
15/02/2008 15:38 |
| Fair synopsis by 'Learn the hard way' |
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mrsavictim Posted:
15/02/2008 17:04 |
| I was too ill to ask anyone if they'd washed their hands, and even when I gained some strength I felt too vulnerable to ask anything which might have portrayed me as a difficult patient. I suppose I paid the price and am still paying over a year later. Also the idea of keeping someone with mrsa in isolation is a joke. I got chatting to another patient at the shop in a dublin hospital. He had mrsa, was in an isolation room, but guess what, he was still able to stroll to the shop, or go out for a smoke. I had no idea he had mrsa until we had been speaking for about ten minutes, so did I pick it up from him, a member of staff, visitor, or who knows. If as many people were as interested in doing something about mrsa as there are antismokers, we might have some chance. But looking at this site, I think not. |
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60s girl Posted:
15/02/2008 20:25 |
| The fact that the HSE feels it necessary to put such a suggestion to patients is shocking in itself. Scrupulous hygiene practices used to be a given for all health professionals. Have standards slipped so much that this is deemed necessary, or is the hygiene problem caused by bad management of the cleaning processes in hospitals - wards, toilets etc? |
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John(johnwilliams) Posted:
15/02/2008 21:51 |
| I see many posters have fallen into the trap set for them set by the HSE by concentrating on 'hand washing'. The HSE doesn't spend €16 million a year on spin doctors without getting results. If you can see through the spin, control of infections within any hospital is not rocket science. The medical profession has for many years been calling for more microbiologists in our hospitals to monitor the spread of bacteria and put protocols in place to prevent cross-infection. If these protocols were properly funded (they would include isolation etc) there would be a dramatic drop in MRSA-type infections and subsequent saving of considerable amount of money. The HSE prefers to waste money on expensive TV ads, but is it wasting money? I believe the HSE has another agenda. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
16/02/2008 00:38 |
| I think it is reasonable that patients should ask if a health care worker has cleaned their hands however the HSE must take responsibility for the lack of resourses available to hospital staff. Not much point in washing our hands and our patients and then not be able to put clean sheets on the bed. The basic necessities like linen, towels and pyjamas are sadly lacking on our wards. To have six sheets on a 31 bedded ward and be expected to care for your patients in a safe hygienic manner is disgraceful. |
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ann(TRK44562) Posted:
16/02/2008 09:32 |
| Do the HSE seriously think that a sick person at the mercy of the health service is going to challenge their doctor on his personal hygiene, this is typical of the maniac ideas that are perpetrated by HSE and shows how far they are removed from reality. Doctors in europe are generally of the same standard its just that in Ireland they cannot cope, cheap gimmicky solutions by the HSE just dont wash, pardon the pun, money being wasted on think tanks should be diverted to the front line, as far as I can see the HSE accomplish nothing and those disgusting adverts on smoking and car crashes are a total waste of money. Anyhow the irish people are too meek and politically correct to challenge their doctors on hygiene and with the foreign staff in our hospitals there is also a communication problem. This is no country for old people! |
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mm Posted:
17/02/2008 02:28 |
| No I don't. It is up to those working in the hospitals - be it medical, clerical, cleaning staff etc. to ensure to that hands are washed thoroughly and gloves discarded after any procedure/work etc. Visitors are the next group who should not be allowed to enter or leave the premises without using gel provided. This has to be done as a single file procedure - as was in operation during winter bug closures. |
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John(OHL33440) Posted:
17/02/2008 14:28 |
| Someone at HSE seems to be suffering from a delusion of contamination! Imagine asking your doctor if he washed his hands! Perhaps the HSE staffer who dreamt up that monster should be put in isolation before the obsession becomes institutionalized and infects more HSE employees! |
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Knipex Posted:
17/02/2008 18:32 |
| Of course its reasonable. People have to take partial responsibility for their own care. All international studies have shown that hand trasfer is the most inportant route of patient acquesition for MRSA and most other HCAI's. Doctors and other health care proffesionals are only human and can forget. There are also a surprising number of healthcare professionals who really dont wash there hands between patients either because of ignorance, lazyness or they just don't care. You cannot assume that all healthcare professionals will do everything by the book because unfortunatley some dont (most do) so if asking one simple questions decreases your chances of catching infection then ask the bloody question and accept some responsibility for your own health. If the person you ask gets petty or angry then report them. The only reason to get touchy is if they are not doing their jobs properly and putting patient care first and if that is the case then they need to be reported and disciplined. |
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John(OHL33440) Posted:
18/02/2008 13:23 |
| Are we not entering the realm of obsessive-compulsive neurosis and an obsession with hand-washing? Supposing on a visit to your doctor you refuse examination until you until he/she had scrubbed up before your very eyes? What do you think an alert doctor would diagnose there and then? |
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Ter Posted:
18/02/2008 14:22 |
| And John, a patient would be entitled to do that. If you ever had a hospital acquied infection, you would do well to be extremely cautious thereafter. It would be an extremely foolish doctor who would diagnose anything without examination. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
18/02/2008 16:46 |
| I m a nurse, I have no objections to being asked " have you cleaned your hands", as I have nothing to feel ashamed of. But I agree with the person who pointed out the cost implications of the ad when wards are short of linen and hygiene standards are difficult to maintain. Also the importance of any person entering the hospital cleaning their hands cannot be over emphasied. Not just a quick squirt of alcohol gel. Many people don't even wash their hand after using the toilet, and visit relatives in hospital. |
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Lorraine(BNQ59381) Posted:
22/02/2008 07:47 |
| I have thought long and hard about this question, at first i thought the HSE were afraid to approach the consultants themselves, But i have done a complette turnaround - especially when you see a street kid challenging a professional about their hand hygiene when in fact - the reason we have to target people who work in healthcare institiutions - is the germs and bacteria being brought in by people visiting in any shape or form and i rarely see the public using the alcohol gel coming in - its always going out - so come on everyone - hand hygiene is a personal hygiene issue and start washing your hands who ever you are and feel completely comfortable to question the hygiene of people who are going to be in close proximity to you: |
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slansabhailte Posted:
12/03/2008 21:55 |
| I work in a hospital, and wash my hands between each patient. I would be extremely offended if someone asked me this question. After each patient leaves the examination room or whilst they are leaving I wash my hands therefore the next patient won't have seen me washing my hands. I do not feel thatI should have to explain thi to each patient, it is my resposibilty as a professional to adhere to hand washing guidelines. I would to be able to pose the same question to some of my patients. Some people you encounter are just filthy picking off dead skin in waiting areas after they have casts removed, picking their noses, wearing filthy smelly clothes etc. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
13/03/2008 11:20 |
| Slan, this is exactly the reason why people are reluctant to take the staeps, advised by the HSE, in asking such a a question - which they are entitled to ask and which, in fact is to protect their own health. As clearly not all of your colleagues are as concientous as you. However, if you didn't want to have to deal with 'the great unwashed', then may I suggest you shouldn't have entered into a career in medicine. |
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Alison Posted:
13/03/2008 12:40 |
| Anonymous, your response is typical of someone who just wants to throw around insults at people. Slan did not say anything other than point to the fact that the general public themselves are not always diligent in their own personal habits therefore are not all in a position to question the standards of anyone else, whether they be health carers or not. Its a bit silly for someone sitting in a waiting room picking their noses, to then ask the Doctor if he had washed his hands. I have seen people doing this in waiting rooms. My worry is not what I would catch from the Doctor or Nurse, it is what I would catch from the slob sitting next to me. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
13/03/2008 13:45 |
| Actually Alison, patients regardless of their personal habits are perfectly entitled to ask whether a doctors has washed his or her hands - for the sake of their own health as this is one method by which bacteria and virus can be transferred. The difference between the 'slob' next to you and the docter is that the 'slob' is unlikely to be examining you and this passing on whatever he has picked up from a previous patient. |
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Knipex Posted:
13/03/2008 14:11 |
| People still do not understand. All it takes is seconds of contact. If a doctor touches a patient who is colonised with MRSA (or any other HCAI for that matter) (at at least 30% of the population are) and does not correctly wash his or her hands after then they WILL pass that pathogen to the next patient they touch. Not might, not perhaps they WILL. There are literally 100's of studies proving this. It is accepted fact among the entire microbiology and infection control community. It does not even take touching a patient to transfer contamination to a health care workers hands. In studies it has been shown that an MRSA infected patient (its even worse for c.diff) is in a room they shed. They contaminate all surfaces around their bed, the bed rail, curtains, bed table, TV remote control, medical equipment etc. It has also been shown that if a Health Care worker goes into that room and touches a contaminated surface for even 5 seconds then their hands become contaminated. I cannot stress how easy it is to contaminate hands or how easy it is for those hands to pass that contamination to the next person. When you ask a doctor has he washed his hands you are protecting your own health. Nothing more nothing less. If you are in hospital you are probably very sick and your immune system is compromised making you even more susceptible to picking up infection. It would be stupid and careless not to ask. If I asked a doctor had he ashed his hands (which I do) and he either got aggressive or ignored me I would firstly refuse treatment, and find a doctor who takes my health seriously and secondly report them. The same would apply to nurses, and other health care worker including nurses, dentists, chiropractors etc. I make no apologies for it. |
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Anonymous
Posted:
13/03/2008 16:35 |
| Knipex, where did you get the figure 30%, do you work in mircobiology? I believe its actually 10-15 %. |
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Knipex Posted:
14/03/2008 08:10 |
| Anon I am involved in infection control. The figures vary from study to study and from region to region and results depend very much on the sample body you use. Some studies exclude people who either are or were in residential care, some don't. The 30% figure I quote seems to be accepted among the microbiologists I have spoken to. For 95% of people colonisation by MRSA is no more dangerous than colonisation by regular Staph and poses no problem. Hospitals are an exception though as they are full of people on antibiotics (making more susceptible to this MRSA colonisation to becoming more wide spread and leaving them more susceptible to an infection taking hold.) and with people with compromised immune systems and more open to infection. If you think about it you couldn't design a more appropriate place for the growth and transmission of infection than a hospital. Two things have been proven to reduce patient acquisition rates. Hand Hygiene. Decontamination the environment. And realistically these both go hand in hand. A recent study looking at C.diff rates before and after the introduction of a decontamination technology using Hydrogen Peroxide Vapour (HPV)showed between a 39% and 53% reduction in patient acquisition. Simple as that, eliminating environmental contamination reduced patient acquisition rates by between 39 and 53%...... And this technology is available in Ireland |
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Chi Posted:
28/03/2008 20:21 |
| I completely agree with tearful teddy. while it is the healthcarer's responibility to ensure they wash their hands, it is your OWN health you should be concerned about. dont just leave it to the doctors to remember to wash their hands. it is your health. ask them. so what if they should have known to wash their hands themselves? do you not care for your halth? will you not at least try to ask them if their hands were washed? if you care enough for your health, you will ask. i know it will be difficult to ask doctors such a question, but we must understand that we cannot just expect doctors to remember everything. we must be less ignorant of our own health, and we must ASK them... have you washed your hands doctor? no or yes. what if, you did not ask them, and something happened to you. what are you going to say? "its the doctor's fault! he should have remembered to wash his hands!" and YOU should have remembered to ASK hi/her if he/she washed their hands too! do not put all the responsibility on the doctors. give yourself some responsibility and ask them, if you care enough of your health. |
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florance Posted:
30/03/2008 05:01 |
| As a nurse i totally agree with pts ensuring that health professionals wash their hands,but i have issues with the responsibility placed on the pts who are already in vunerable situations.why not have doctors and all health professionals wear name tags and all doctors should make themselves known to the pt.than an anonymous reporting systm set up for the pt to report.i have a noticed doctorusing his stetescope from pt to pt without cleaning it,so hands arent the only source of the problem as far as i am concerned.why shouldnt doctors wear uniforms like all other health professionals or are they above everyone? |
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Anonymous
Posted:
19/04/2008 10:08 |
| Of course people have the right to ask any health care worker if they have washed their hands. But I feel that this is a deliberate attempt by the HSE to shift the entirity of blame for hospital acquired infections on to their staff. However I feel most patients must trust that health care workers want to do the best for their patients. I have not yet been asked if I have washed my hands. Working in the health service, I have seen so many instances of patients with MRSA and C. difficile being left in a six bedded room because there are no isolation rooms available. The HSE should also tackle infrastructural shortcomings rather than blame their staff. As regards the previous comment - stethecopes are freqently used on subsequent patients without cleaning - the HSE should provide a disinfected stethescope at each bedside. This is supposed to be the case in all isolated patients - however a dedicated stethescope for these patients are frequently not available. I think an anonymous reporting system is a ridiculous idea. As a nurse would you appreciate anonymous reports of your deficiencies in your input to infection control. I think you'd like to know when and how you didn't come up to scratch so that you can improve. I would anyway. Also.....when i put on a shirt and tie in the morning it's not because i feel i'm above anyone else. It's my uniform. |
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Draighneain Posted:
19/04/2008 23:30 |
| I suggest that, in addition to washing their hands, health care professionals should wear surgical gloves. Hospital visitors should also do the same. The gloves should be replaced with fresh gloves as the professional / visitor moves from patient room to patient room. There are at least two advantages to this regime. First: The gloves are readily visable and the lack of gloves by a potential wearer is obvious. (Like not smoking there is a shaming factor which could play here.) Second: The constant washing of hands, which is time consuming and possibly hard on hands, could be reduced in frequency (while not being eliminated entirely). One disadvantage, of course, is that the already cash-strapped HSE would have to provide the surgical gloves! |
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ROADRUNNER Posted:
07/06/2008 08:51 |
| YES I DO THINK WE SHOULD ASK,I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES,DOCTORS,NURSES,CARE ASSISTANTS,HOUSEHOLD STAFF AND AMBULANCE MEN,ALL GO TO THE SAME BIN LIFT THE LID WITH THEIR HANDS TO DEPOSIT WASTE IN,NOT USING THE FOOT PEDAL,SAW ALL OF THIS HAPPENING WITHIN AN HOUR IN THE SAME A+E DEPARTMENT. SO LETS ALL ASK FOR HANDS TO BE WASHED. |
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ROADRUNNER Posted:
09/06/2008 18:58 |
| Sorry for putting my last post in capital letters everyone. I did not realise this can be taken as shouting. |
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rabbit(RIW75024) Posted:
10/09/2008 17:39 |
| yes essential because the majority just put gloves on... |
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Anonymous
Posted:
12/09/2008 18:12 |
| YES, ITS THEIR LIFE, THEIR BODIES. DANGEROUS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IF THEY DONT WASH HANDS. GLOVES DONT PROTECT ALONE. GLOVES CAN BE CONTAMINATED, HAND HYGIENE IS ESSENTIAL |
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LOOPER Posted:
20/09/2008 20:32 |
| Yeah they should wear latex gloves when coming into contact with patients as they are under the hospitals care |
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Anonymous Posted:
21/11/2008 04:54 |
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I attended hospital today and I couldn't believe the Doctor who attended me left the patient in the bed beside me and continued to examine me without washing his hands or at least wearing latex gloves. He was most annoyed when I suggested that he had maybe forgotten to wash his hands, he proceeded to the dispenser cleaned his hands and started talking to the student Doctors and ignored me completely no apology nothing! I think I hurt his feelings. When I mentioned about washing his hands we were on our own, so I didn't embarrass him in front of his students, maybe I should have. I am totally sick of being treated like a "teaching dummy" I have a healthy brain total recall and my hearing is 90%/100% what do these Immortals want from us mere mortals? |
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Anonymous Posted:
24/11/2008 10:00 |
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Oh anonymous, that is perhaps beuase he is "superior" all us ordinary mortals and this could not possibly do any wrong - I am being sarcastic here. |
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kelley Posted:
22/01/2009 20:05 |
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yes,and i am a health professional myself. a good idea if you live in community is to say to health professional "i will show you where bathroon is" or "i have a clean towel here for you ". it infuriates me when health professionals do not wash their hands. perhaps on occassions a person may forget and if so will be delighted to be promted. |
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gally Posted:
23/01/2009 11:39 |
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Yes, but should health professionals have to be told to wash their hands? ???? its unbelievable how many health professionals do so - in my opinion anybody who attends to a patient in a ward of six beds without washing their hands, even once, does not deserve the title "health professional" - it should be a condition of employment, and if caught napping in this regard should warrant a warning, three warnings and then out. Thats my opinion in any case - Yes I would have no problem, and have done, asking a health professional or any other person serving in a hospital if they have washed their hands / wash their hands before attending to my needs, whatever they may be. They don't like it though, and they will let you know - Tough |
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nosey Posted:
14/05/2009 12:03 |
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I must say that the uploaded final version posted on the internet should have never been posted not for its content but the way it has been corrected by some Civil Servant that could after several rewrites could not bother to make sure that it was Typed and looked professional not as the Childish way it was corrected with a pen by hand and did not even check that after months of revisions and removing of sections it was not possible to give it to a secondry school student to type it up for publication on th Internet. I wonder if the team that carried out the enquiry was pleased with the presentation of the final report and did the congradulate the presenters on the way the proof read the document and will there be any apoligy from any quarter about the way it looks Theses families i think deserved a lot better than the way the have been treated and it permeates from the top down and Mary Harney and Dermot Ahearn and Co needs to explain why the let such a document be published on the Internet after so many revisions and the Sectretaries and Typests should have a little more pride in their work or at least make an apoligy for such a shody presentation. I would like the concerned members of the public to give their views and open up a forum for equal treatment for all. |
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I have no other alternative but to condemn the whole crew that put the Monagear Report/Inquiry together as been the worst attempt to disguise something that should have been a benifit to the Families involved.
