Showing posts with label Infection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infection. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

Be your special needs child's advocate during air travel | Best Family Travel Advice

In today’s world of poor customer service and inconsistent policies, self-sufficient travel is the best. It may sound harsh, but nobody else outside your friends and family can be safely relied on to help you and your granddaughters. You can ask the airline to place a note in the reservation, but honestly, the advocacy is up to you.

Firstly, bring a letter from the children’s physician stating their medical needs and then request private screening at TSA. Communicate with the TSA agents at each step and ask for a supervisor if needed. Remain calm: they are not going to respect your situation as much as you’d like them to simply because most people don’t really understand. If you can ask a friend or relative to accompany you through airport security to the gate, that may free you up to care for the girls while the friend helps with belongings.

iStock 000000340090XSmall 300x238 Be your special needs childs advocate during air travelYou may want to see if the girls would wear a mask. Hand washing with soap and water is best, but when on airplanes, use instant hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes, wipe down tray tables and arm rests, and communicate your situation with flight attendants. There is a product that covers the seat called Plane Sheets. If using the airplane lavatory, do not wash hands in there, as there are so many germs on faucet, soap dispenser and door handle; instead use hand sanitizer at your seat.

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hand sanitizers: don't kill MRSA or E. coli, says FDA - Health Key

Hey, hand sanitizers. You can only do so much – and preventing MRSA infection isn’t one of those things -- so stop over-promising! That was the gist of warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration to four makers of the popular products.

Apparently, the manufacturers of Staphaseptic, Safe4Hours, Dr. Tichenor’s and CleanWell products had suggested that various gels, protectants and what-not could protect against infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The FDA takes issue with that.

It wasn’t too enamored with claims about preventing infection from E. coli or the flu either.

The letter to one of the companies, which claimed their product kills 99.9% of MRSA, gives the general tone: “Below is an analysis of the regulatory status of Staphaseptic First Aid Antiseptic/Pain Relieving Gel which includes excerpts of the violative labeling and the specific new drug and misbranding charges. Note that this is not an all inclusive description of all violative labeling for your OTC drug product.”

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Keep Pets Out of Your Bed? - Dr. Weil

Q
Keep Pets Out of Your Bed?

What's this I hear that allowing pets to sleep on your bed puts you at risk for some dangerous diseases? I've always let my cats sleep on the bed. Is this for real?

A
Answer (Published 4/21/2011)

A team of veterinary researchers in California recently warned against allowing pets to sleep with their owners, citing studies showing that this practice can favor the transmission of a number of diseases. Their search of medical literature turned up cases of meningitis, staphylococcus infections, bubonic plague, Chagas disease (caused by a parasite and spread to animals and humans from infected bugs) and cat-scratch disease that were passed from animals to humans via licking, kissing or sleeping in the same bed. But they conceded that cases of serious infections passed from animals to humans in this way are rare.

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Andrew Lopez, RN
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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Big Pharma backs deal to boost flu pandemic readiness | Reuters

Virus samples will be shared globally in exchange for vaccines produced from them under a landmark deal to improve preparedness for a flu pandemic, diplomats at the World Health Organization said on Saturday.

In a statement to Reuters, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, which represents 26 research-based drugmakers, welcomed the plan and confirmed the commitments its members had undertaken as part of it.

Negotiators ended an all-night session with a draft agreement accepted by all countries, including the United States, the last to join the consensus, diplomats said.

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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
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856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Hospital scrubs and sandwiches should not mix | Reporting on Health

You probably have been to a restaurant near a hospital (or a cafĂ© inside a hospital) and seen a doctor, nurse or medical assistant wearing scrubs and standing in line for a sandwich. You probably didn’t give this a second thought, the way you wouldn’t if you saw a police officer in uniform or a priest wearing a collar.

Dr. David C. Martin, a retired Sacramento anesthesiologist a former assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at UC Davis Medical Center, thinks you should be alarmed. He has a niche mission that Antidote has never seen championed before. He wants to rid America’s restaurants of medical staff eating in scrubs. He makes his case over a three-part series that begins today. The first part is below.

Part two will run later this week and conclude with part three, in which I will bring in some voices from the larger health care community to talk about this confrontational approach to a covert public health issue. Here’s Dr. Martin.

I was enjoying lunch at a popular Sacramento restaurant last week, when two patrons walked in wearing green surgical attire, “scrubs” as they are commonly called. Both were wearing official badges from a large, local hospital, revealing one to be a physician, the other a registered nurse. Concerned that these scrubs had been exposed to communicable bacteria, I politely asked that the healthcare workers leave the restaurant, and return only in regular attire. Both were mildly annoyed but agreed to depart. I asked them to leave because the use of scrubs in the community can create a serious and avoidable public threat. I am also convinced that simple public action can play a powerful role in effecting change. I hope to bring misuse of hospital attire to greater public awareness and to solicit broader public action in addressing this potentially dangerous problem of scrubs transmitting pathogens from the hospital into the public and from public places back to the hospital, where these pathogens may cause grave harm to vulnerable patients.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which certifies and accredits healthcare organizations, has launched a bold initiative called “Speak Up,” which encourages individuals to take an active role in reducing our risk of infection by assuring that our providers wash their hands and wear gloves. JCAHO has even published a coloring book for children, to teach, early in life, that it is not disrespectful or inappropriate to speak up and remind our physicians and other providers to take appropriate safety measures.

For adults, the Joint Commission issues buttons, to be worn by healthcare providers, which say, “Ask me if I’ve washed my hands.”  This initiative is supported by the American Hospital Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among many other quality and safety organizations. Some hospitals and clinics have embraced and enforced rigorous hand washing protocols have reduced their rate of institution-acquired infections, in some cases quite dramatically.   

Yet, believe it or not, many healthcare workers have not complied with institutional policy on hand washing.

At a forum on hand hygiene organized by Loyola University Medical Center and Medline Industries in March, experts reported that hand-hygiene compliance was lax nationwide. But it takes a lot of effort to get everyone “on board.”  I believe that the growing concern over scrubs as a vector of disease, while less important than sound hand-washing practices, is a substantial problem that merits similarly aggressive action.

Most California hospitals have official or unofficial policies, which restrict the use of hospital scrubs to surgical suites and related patient-care areas. Wearing them or laundering them outside of the hospital is forbidden or discouraged, but enforcement of such policy is a difficult task.

I spoke about this concern with quality assurance personnel at two of the four major hospital organizations in the Sacramento area. The two others failed to return several calls. One of the quality assurance staff members shared an observation that her organization had been effective in curtailing scrub misuse by non-physician staff, but that physicians were frequently allowed to break the rules. She said that many considered themselves to be “above the law” in this regard. Some travel to and from their own homes in contaminated scrubs, which suggests that this practice stems less from a disregard for others and more from a curious type of denial and disbelief that hospital-contaminated scrubs offer any real threat.  Are these the same professionals who have resisted aggressive hand-washing protocols, which make a huge difference in institutional infection rates?  As a physician who has spent most of my career in the surgical suite, I find this perplexing.

The notion that our physicians and nurses are immune to error, or unapproachable regarding its potential should have been laid to rest long ago. None of us should share public space with those who unnecessarily risk compromising public safety, knowingly or otherwise. I believe, as does the medical community at large, that it is time for all of us to take responsibility for our health and safety, rather than displacing the entirety of this onus to our caregivers. Purging public spaces of hospital-exposed garments could make more than a public fashion statement. It could reduce illness and even death from infectious disease.

Next: Why superbugs may show up wearing scrubs

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--

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Andrew Lopez, RN
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Friday, April 1, 2011

MRSA Protocols- Are They Being Used In Practice? | Registered Nurse Blog

Posted: April 2nd, 2011

In Advance For NPs and PAs, a March 9, 2011 article was featured on the following study of protocols used by health care providers to treat MRSA infections. I was surprised to see that some providers were still using Keflex to treat these infections. Some providers still were not sending cultures on these infections. How can we adequately treat an infection without knowing what will actually kill the bacteria? My impression of the following information is that the protocol that I do is somehow a new treatment regimen. I have been doing incision and drainage with appropriate culturing with first line Septra for the last 3 plus years. I also use mupricion ointment to nares twice daily and Hibaclens during the regimen if they have had more than one outbreak within a 6 month period.

Taking Aim at MRSA
Protocol use by an NP-PA team
Anita D. Barnes is a family nurse practitioner who is an assistant professor of nursing at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
A 2009 study reported a variety of approaches used by ED physicians to treat CA-MRSA SSTIs.6 The study surveyed 225 ED physicians nationwide: 56% reported always sending cultures for testing and 19% said they never did so. The physicians prescribed trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) 60% of the time, either alone or in combination with another antibiotic. Nineteen percent treated patients with cephalexin alone, and 13% prescribed cephalexin in combination with another antibiotic. Cephalexin is not recommended in the CDC protocol.

What are you doing as providers to treat MRSA infections? Do you find the information alarming that some providers are still not culturing infections?

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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How Vacuuming, Using a Sponge, and Other Daily Habits Can Make You Sick

They say that home is where the heart is. But what you may not know is that it's also where 65% of colds and more than half of food-borne illnesses are contracted. The things we do around the house every day have a big impact on both our long- and short-term health.  Here are six common household activities that may be making you sick.

1. Using a Sponge

The dirtiest room in everybody's home is the kitchen, says Phillip Tierno, PhD, director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at the New York University Langone Medical Center and author of The Secret Life of Germs. "That's because we deal with dead animal carcasses on our countertops and in the sink." Raw meat can carry E. coli and salmonella, among other viruses and bacteria.

Most people clean their countertops and table after a meal with the one tool found in almost all kitchens: the sponge. In addition to sopping up liquids and other messes, the kitchen sponge commonly carries E. coli and fecal bacteria, as well as many other microbes. "It's the single dirtiest thing in your kitchen, along with a dishrag," says Tierno.

Ironically, the more you attempt to clean your countertops with a sponge, the more germs you're spreading around. "People leave [the sponge] growing and it becomes teeming with [millions of] bacteria, and that can make you sick and become a reservoir of other organisms that you cross-contaminate your countertops with, your refrigerator, and other appliances in the kitchen," Tierno explains.

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Andrew Lopez, RN
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Monday, March 21, 2011

Education Resources, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc APIC |

APIC works to provide information to both the general public and healthcare professionals. The brochures on this page are regularly reviewed and updated as needed to insure that the information provided is current. These materials are available for you to download, copy and distribute free of charge.  These pamphlets are intended to provide a general reference to each topic. No brochure can adequately diagnose a medical condition. If in doubt regarding your symptoms, please contact a healthcare professional.

 


  • 10 tips for preventing the spread of infection
  • Los Hechos Sobre Chlamydia
  • Antibiotic Safety
  • Meningococcal Meningitis
  • Chlamydia
  • Mold in Your Home
  • Companion Animals and Your Health
  • Patient Safety - Protecting Yourself from Medical Errors
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    Tuesday, March 15, 2011

    5 "Women's Diseases" Your Husband Can Get - Nursing Link

    Vicki Santillano | DivineCaroline

    March 14, 2011

    It’s hard to escape the flagrant gender labeling in our society. Dolls and the color pink are associated with girls, while guys are assigned GI Joes and the “manly” color blue. And the trend doesn’t stop at childhood, either. Even the medical industry tends to ascribe certain diseases to men or women, even when both sexes run the risk of developing them.

    Recently, there’s been a successful campaign push to educate women about the dangers of heart disease, a condition previously associated with men only. By the same token, there are quite a few health problems facing guys that warrant attention. Men may be less likely to get these diseases than women are, but that doesn’t mean the danger—and the need for preventative measures—isn’t there.

    1. Osteoporosis

    Look at any advertisement for calcium supplements or osteoporosis treatment, and it’s obvious who’s being targeted—namely, not men. While it’s true that women are more prone to weakened bones, the National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that two million men have it currently, while twelve million more are at risk. Women have smaller frames, which give them less to work with as calcium depletion rises with age. But while women are often tested for bone density around menopause because their hormonal changes make bones more fragile, men aren’t until something major happens, like a fracture

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    Monday, February 28, 2011

    Fast response crucial in outbreaks of food-borne illness, study finds - USATODAY.com

    Nearly three years after a nationwide salmonella outbreak that sickened about 1,500 people and claimed two lives, U.S. epidemiologists have learned that speed is of the essence in identifying sources of food contamination and preventing further infection.

      But speed requires resources that cost money and, as an editorial accompanying the paper in the Feb. 23 online issue of the
    New England Journal of Medicine points out, funds may not be forthcoming.

    Although the recently signed Food Safety Modernization Act could help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration respond better to outbreaks of food-borne illness, the reality is that Congress still needs to authorize the money, the editorial stated.

    Click on the "via" link for the rest of the article.

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    Sunday, February 20, 2011

    Antiseptic baths 'reduce infection risk' | News | Nursing Times

    Using 2% chlorhexidine gluconate cloths for the daily bathing of inpatients, instead of soap and water, reduces the risk of hospital-acquired infections, according to US researchers.

    The study found a 64% decrease in the risk of acquiring either MRSA or Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. A group of 7,699 general medical patients were bathed daily by healthcare assistants with CHG antiseptic cloths for the duration of their admission, while a control group of 7,102 patients were bathed with soap and water.

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    Friday, February 18, 2011

    C. Difficile Spreads from Hospital to Community, ACG from MedPage Today

    Clostridium difficile infection has spread from the hospital to the community but has proved manageable thus far, according to data reported here.

    From 1991 to 2005, the incidence of community-acquired C. difficile in Olmsted County, Minn., quadrupled but still remained less common than the hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection, Sahil Khanna, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.

    "Patients with community-acquired C. difficile infection were younger, more likely to be female, and less likely to have severe infections," Khanna observed.

    Epidemiologic studies have shown an increasing incidence of both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. However, few studies have looked at the incidence of community-acquired C. difficile, said Khanna.

    Click on the "via" link for the full article.

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    Friday, February 11, 2011

    Balancing infection control with the patient experience, KevinMD.com

    by Kevin Pho, MD

    Hospitals have recently been stepping up their infection control procedures, in the wake of news about iatrogenic infections afflicting patients when they are admitted.

    Doctors are increasingly wearing a variety of protective garb — gowns, gloves and masks — while seeing patients.

    In an interesting New York Times column, Pauline Chen wonders how this affects the doctor-patient relationship.

    She cites a study from the Annals of Family Medicine, which concluded that,

    fear of contagion among physicians, studies have shown, can compromise the quality of care delivered. When compared with patients not in isolation, those individuals on contact precautions have fewer interactions with clinicians, more delays in care, decreased satisfaction and greater incidences of depression and anxiety. These differences translate into more noninfectious complications like falls and pressure ulcers and an increase of as much at 100 percent in the overall incidence of adverse events.

    Hospitals are in a no-win situation here. On one hand, they have to do all they can to minimize the risk of healthcare-acquired infections, but on the other, doctors need to strive for a closer bond with patients — which protective garb sometimes can impede.

    More research is clearly needed to determine how much protection is actually needed to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

    For instance, Dr. Chen cites studies where,

    researchers at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond found that the rate of infection was identical whether health care workers wore gowns and gloves with only the patients in isolation or whether they wore only gloves with all patients.

    So there’s some evidence that being overly protective may not necessarily help.

    The key is finding the right balance between infection control and preserving the physician-patient relationship. With rapidly advancing, and sometimes impersonal, technology, combined with the legitimate fear of hospital-acquired contagion, it’s easy to forget about the patient experience during their hospital stay.

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    Sunday, January 9, 2011

    Starve a Cold, Feed a Fever? | Patient Advocate - Kitty Wilde, RN

    Do you starve a cold and feed a fever when you’re feeling under the weather? Or is it the other way around?

    Good news — starving is never the correct answer.

    When you eat a nutritional, well-balanced diet, many other factors fall in place that keep your body functioning optimally. Foods that are rich in nutrients help fight infections and may help to prevent illness. Because a wide array of nutrients in foods — some of which we may not even know about — are essential for wellness, relying on dietary supplements (vitamins and minerals) for good nutrition may limit your intake to just the known nutritional compounds rather than letting you get the full benefit of all nutrients available in food.

    Including more raw fruits and vegetables in your diet is the best way to ensure a high intake of antioxidants. And when you cook these super-nutrients, be sure you cook them using as little liquid as possible to prevent nutrient loss.

    To read the rest of the article, click on the link above.

    See also, patient advocates:
    http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/consumer.advocate/patient.awareness.orga...
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