Hospital staph (staff?) infections...

[coquina]

They are rampant in this area. The medical profession says it's because of antibiotic resistant bacteria. However, when mom got one following hip replacement surgery, I didn't think the procedures followed while changing her dressings were very sterile. The nurses would put on a gown and gloves, but they didn't put on a cap. One of them had long hair, and it hung down in front of her face, she would brush it back with her gloved hand.

 

However - if she transferred bacteria from her hand to her hair, then touched her hair after she had degloved, wouldn't it be possible for her to transfer staph to another patient? (It was a surgical wing - mother had to have surgery to debride the wound and remained on the floor a couple of days.)

 

Wouldn't one think that if the medical staff was aware that staph infections are resistant to treatment with antibiotics, they would be extraordinarily careful not to cross contaminate patients?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

So true--hair has loads of bacteria on it. I'm not surprised of that- you should report it to the hospital. That nurse was not being sterile or clean at all. I think that should be fixed.

[coquina]

I said something to the nurse, she said the hospital wouldn't provide caps because they were too expensive. I told her I thought she ought to at least have her hair put up. She said the regs. did not require it.

[Glider]

Any Infection Control nurse over here would have thrown her off the ward. In ITU, surgical recovery and high-dependancy units, paper caps are mandatory. Even on general wards, nurses have to have their hair tied back.

 

The medical profession says it's because of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

These are the cause of infections, but it takes poor practice to make them rampant. They are usually spread by staff not observing barrier techniques with infected patients.

[Alexa]

One of them had long hair, and it hung down in front of her face, she would brush it back with her gloved hand.

This is proffesional negligence or ignorance. That nurse had a natural reflex to brush her hair back, but she didn't realize the glove is not enough for the protection of her patient.

[blike]

Although it was probably a natural reflex, I was under the impression that all nurses are required to have their hair tied back when on the clock. I know most medical floors don't require hair nets. They all either have it tied back or have short hair. Obviously dangling hair presents an issue, especially if she touches another patient, then touches her hair, then touches you.

 

Whether or not that is the cause of the staph infection is another issue. Infections do happen in the hospital because of resistant strains, but as Glider said, good practices can reduce the number of infections significantly. However, it probably could never be conclusively proven that it wasn't just bad luck. Did your mom get a staph infection or did you just hear about them?

[john5746]

I think in the first post she said that she did. My grandmother also was infected. Pneumonia is another problem. It is complicated by the fact that many of the patients have little resistance to infections, so they can catch anything quickly.

 

I think they should do more to prevent the infections, much cheaper that way, not to mention better for everyone involved.

[coquina]

Yes, she got a staph infection from a hip replacement - she was 95 but went through rehab and did great. A few days after she got back from rehab, the hip started to hurt worse. I took her back to the surgeon's office and one of his partners looked her over and told us that she had been given pain meds in rehab so they could work with her, and had taken her off them when they sent her home, so it was to be expected. She did not improve, the pain got worse and she got sicker. I took her back again. They again, brushed her off with comments about her age and fragility.

 

A couple of nights later, while she was in bed, the hip burst open and a geyser of infection shot out and filled the bed. It was a staph infection.

 

The following two months were hell for us both. She was treated, a PIC line was inserted, and she was sent to a nursing home to recover. They let her get bedsores, and they got infected as well. It ended up with one of the nursing home assistants dislocating her hip when they moved her. She went back to the hospital and the doc. degloved her leg while putting the hip back in the socket.

 

The whole thing ended up with the infection going systemic and my mother dying from a massive GI bleed. (Which I wrote about in a "Flashbacks" thread in the psychology segment).

 

I was told staph infections are unavoidable - I witnessed the hair bit during her final hospitalization, when she had an infected hip and infected bedsores on both legs. I wonder who else got it because of that nurse's lack of sterile procedure. (And I did complain about that to her doctors and the head nurse on the wing.) Watching what went on made me aware of how mom probably acquired the infection.

 

I am very sorry to go on about it, but I am very, very bitter about the whole episode, and I do have flashbacks about the end. I know I need to just get it out of my system and move on, but it's easier said than done.

[coquina]

I'm sorry your grandmother got infected too. Did she recover?

[blike]

I was told staph infections are unavoidable

 

My condolences about that whole situation. In general, they will definitely occur in hospitals with some frequency. In that respect they are "unavoidable". There are all sorts of factors which play into susceptibility to infections, but the most obvious is a weakened immune system. My mom (who is a nurse) said that some infections can be prevented by observing proper procedures, but some are just going to happen.

[coquina]

My condolences about that whole situation. In general, they will definitely occur in hospitals with some frequency. In that respect they are "unavoidable". There are all sorts of factors which play into susceptibility to infections, but the most obvious is a weakened immune system. My mom (who is a nurse) said that some infections can be prevented by observing proper procedures, but some are just going to happen.

 

I'm sure that Mom's system wasn't as strong as some, due to her age. Maybe it was unavoidable.

 

Thanks for the reply.