TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOSPITALS (or lack thereof)

Well, dear patients and readers, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I wish you all many blessings in the New Year.

My holidays were bittersweet. For the first time in my life, grandma did not, could not host Christmas in her house. My children took over because the preparation as well as the clean up would have been too much for me since any increase activity / work just worsens the pain in my arms, and shoulders and neck, and all I had was neck surgery! I was supposed to go home the next day after surgery! My husband said I screamed for almost three days. No one could even touch the hair on my arms! The pain especially in my right arm was beyond belief!

The pain was an excruciating, burning and stabbing pain that would not let up. Apparently when my pain was at its worst, I would vomit. So I was kept heavily sedated and as the pain medication began to wear off, I would start to scream again! My husband wasn't a happy camper and as I re-read his e-mails to the children about what was and was not happening in the recovery room, I marvel that he kept his temper. Orders were in the computer but not received so at times therefore the lack of timeliness hampered good pain control. In this day and age, there is no reason for a patient to be suffering any pain at all! Ever!

So as I debated what to write about this evening, I thought to myself, "What good are all the "bells and whistles" of technology? "High tech bells and whistles are not just in the operating rooms in each specialty service but in the entire hospital?" BUT if there are no qualified or diligent staff to answer all the bells and whistles or interpret the bells and whistles, what good is technology? Sure, it looks good in an ad or in an article to be able to say, "We have robotics or we have bariatrics, when at the same time NO ONE would answer a call bell so I could be assisted to go to the bathroom! I was so weak that it was difficult to find the call bell BUT when I found it and used it, no one came! Other times, I could not find the call bell so again of course no one came. I HAD TO PEE THE BED each time! How humiliated I felt! I remember calling out for help when I saw "someone" pass my door but my voice was weak so I was not heard! I ALSO remember one time hearing "staff at the desk" talking about their family pictures on the web and again no one came and again I peed in the bed! YUK!

AND then there was a nurse who said to me several times "Honey.......open your eyes, be happy, open your eyes!" I was so weak, I COULD NOT OPEN UP MY EYES! When I got home and began thinking about some of these issues, I felt betrayed by nursing! I thought to myself, "If you can't walk the walk, don't you DARE talk the talk! What the hell is being taught in schools?"

I know one thing that is being taught in nursing and that is that "nurses" will always be able to get a job! Recently, an article on the web talked about the "most read articles this past year." The fourth most read article on their site was, "Ring for the Nurse! Improving Call Light Management" my gosh, and in this day and age, I expect hospital staff to be high tech! BUT if nursing has not solved the "issue" of getting patients to the bathroom, then what hope is there for the more serious patient issues to be solved?

While I was still on my hospital experience, and this might sound like little stuff, is that when I finally began receiving a food tray, the tray of food several times was brought in and placed clear across the room. I could not get out of bed to get to my food so of course the trays were picked up UNTOUCHED!

So, let me touch on an important topic i.e. hospital acquired infections. The topic of infections is a big topic so I'll touch on the topic of infections as related to "dirty instruments" in the operating room in another discussion. My comments on "dirty instruments" in the operating room will be VERY interesting so I hope you come back to read it.

In fact I'll make it my next topic for next time! This issue has a simple solution, just as all the hospital issues, so one of my discussions will be on the "SOLUTION"!

However, very importantly and very sadly, hospital infections are rampant! Infections alone are costing our system billions of dollars per year. To have patients suffering or dying from hospital infections is a crime against humanity! Remember, the patient's families suffer also, mentally, emotionally and financially!

Let me break down the issue piece by piece in future discussions. The old fashioned hand scrub has almost disappeared in the operating rooms. Gels and foams, which save the hospital a lot of money on water and heating the water for a surgical scrub, in my opinion, cannot do the proper job of disinfecting / preparing the hands for those who scrub in for surgical cases. The foams and gels just smear the "germs" around on the hands, in my opinion, since there really is no real "scientific methodology," i.e. time or friction for applying the foams and gels. I have seen and experienced where daily / constant use of the products causes open cracks around the finger tips as well as excessive drying of the skin on the hands. These "areas" become portals for bacteria! An old fashion hand scrub with water, friction, and time methodically done on each nail, finger and hand for at least five minutes and rinsed well, I believe, is one way to reduce "the spread of infections" in the operating room and even on the hospital units where invasive procedures are performed.

READ research on the issue of "double gloving" during operations. There is a germ theory and most importantly is the fact that hands can't be made "sterile." Microbiology #101 needs to be stressed, and people need to think about how infection is really transmitted. Just because someone has gloves on but then touches blood, urine, feces and the list goes on and on and then touches a monitor, a door handle, or an IV does NOT protect the patient. Also, IF the glove is not removed in a proper way, the person wearing the gloves will also contaminate themselves as well as the door handle, the IV and etc. WHY has the operating room experience been eliminated or made an "elective" in most nursing programs? The OR experience is where one learns not only about anatomy and the multitudes of surgery procedures but also about "sterility and the transmission" of germs and viruses and prions! The operating room experience / class time, as in Canada, SHOULD be mandated to be a mandatory course for anyone who decides to work in the operating room. There is no EXCUSE FOR ON THE JOB TRAINING for anyone working in an operating room! AND, importantly, since the nurses often have to "teach" the residents and many unlicensed personnel, if the OR nurses don't know the basics of the germ theory then who is going to be the patient advocate?

READ the testimonies of families who have lost their loved ones from 'hospital acquired infections." READ about those who have suffered terribly from "hospital acquired infections."

READ about Alicia Cole and her experience with necrotizing fasciitis! I have scrubbed on this type of case. Horrific wounds are left after the dying / dead tissue is debrided.

READ about MAME!

READ about Nile's project!

READ about Justin's Hope

I say, let's start an organization called NAME (Nurses Against Medical Errors) and then work together with ALL of these "patients and their families!"

Blessings,
Helen French RN,BSN

(pardon me IF I repeat myself on any issue. It is that I just feel very strongly about them)