Did your mother ever say to you "go wash your hands or someone will die?" Of course not.
But maybe she should have, especially if you were going to grow up to be a doctor or a nurse or someone working in a public health care system.
Hospital acquired infections are killing people more than we know.
One case I recently heard about affected someone visiting the hospital who was not even a patient! The Center for Disease Control (CDC) projected this year that one of every 22 patients would get an infection while hospitalized.
This comes out to 1.
7 million cases a year.
Out of this 99,000 will die.
And this can happen from something that begins as a simple routine procedure.
This is why I get so nuts when someone I care about goes to the hospital for anything - from an Emergency Room visit to a little nip and tuck.
.
.
and my family just doesn't understand! They think I am overly concerned.
But you see I know the world of microbes (I loved microbiology) and I know the parties these little guys like to have, especially in hospitals with open flesh.
Starting an intravenous alone opens flesh.
When I worked clinically as a nurse I worked in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with many fresh post-operative patients (people who just returned from surgery).
It is always important to wash hands before and after we take care of patients, but especially with patients who have had surgery.
I used to see doctors mosey in to see patients and flip off the covers, open the bandages and look at the surgical site, and then go to the next patients and do the same thing.
.
.
and not wash their hands.
I don't mean to only pick on doctors - some other personnel (x-ray techs, etc) participated in that too.
I often wonder if that is still happening these days in the hospitals.
I think the answer is yes as we see the rise in hospital infections.
Hospitals now have antibacterial soaps and gels for health care workers to use on their hands.
But that has created a whole host of other problems.
It is very irritating to the skin for many people.
Probably because the active ingredient in most antibacterial products is triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria but it also has been shown to kill human cells.
But most importantly antibacterial soaps and gels contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Enter "MRSA"-Methylcillin Resistant Staph Aureus - one of the super-bugs that is brilliant enough to know how to resist antibiotics.
But guess what it doesn't know how to fight? Essential Oils! Research done by Sue Chao last year through Young Living showed that the essential oil blend "RC" was extremely effective against MRSA.
Other blends such as Thieves can be very effective against most pathogenic organisms as well.
The problem of resistant super bugs like MRSA and other strains extend beyond the hospital.
This is an issue that is becoming part of our every day life.
But maybe she should have, especially if you were going to grow up to be a doctor or a nurse or someone working in a public health care system.
Hospital acquired infections are killing people more than we know.
One case I recently heard about affected someone visiting the hospital who was not even a patient! The Center for Disease Control (CDC) projected this year that one of every 22 patients would get an infection while hospitalized.
This comes out to 1.
7 million cases a year.
Out of this 99,000 will die.
And this can happen from something that begins as a simple routine procedure.
This is why I get so nuts when someone I care about goes to the hospital for anything - from an Emergency Room visit to a little nip and tuck.
.
.
and my family just doesn't understand! They think I am overly concerned.
But you see I know the world of microbes (I loved microbiology) and I know the parties these little guys like to have, especially in hospitals with open flesh.
Starting an intravenous alone opens flesh.
When I worked clinically as a nurse I worked in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with many fresh post-operative patients (people who just returned from surgery).
It is always important to wash hands before and after we take care of patients, but especially with patients who have had surgery.
I used to see doctors mosey in to see patients and flip off the covers, open the bandages and look at the surgical site, and then go to the next patients and do the same thing.
.
.
and not wash their hands.
I don't mean to only pick on doctors - some other personnel (x-ray techs, etc) participated in that too.
I often wonder if that is still happening these days in the hospitals.
I think the answer is yes as we see the rise in hospital infections.
Hospitals now have antibacterial soaps and gels for health care workers to use on their hands.
But that has created a whole host of other problems.
It is very irritating to the skin for many people.
Probably because the active ingredient in most antibacterial products is triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria but it also has been shown to kill human cells.
But most importantly antibacterial soaps and gels contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Enter "MRSA"-Methylcillin Resistant Staph Aureus - one of the super-bugs that is brilliant enough to know how to resist antibiotics.
But guess what it doesn't know how to fight? Essential Oils! Research done by Sue Chao last year through Young Living showed that the essential oil blend "RC" was extremely effective against MRSA.
Other blends such as Thieves can be very effective against most pathogenic organisms as well.
The problem of resistant super bugs like MRSA and other strains extend beyond the hospital.
This is an issue that is becoming part of our every day life.
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