hospitals are gross

There is a new acronym afoot - MDRO (Multi drug resistant organism). I saw this on one of my charts this week. Had no idea what it was. It represents things like MRSA, VRE, EBSL, KPC. They are resistant to many antibiotics.

As time goes on I realize how filthy hospitals really are. I mean our ER is not clean. It seems like all the housekeepers do is mop the floor and empty the trash. Apparently the rest is up to us. Do you think that every time a patient leaves the entire room and all the surfaces are wiped down? You are kidding yourself. The hospital doesn't seem to care.

It seems like there is more and more MRSA. How is MRSA spread? From one person to another, not washing your hands. I also think that the isolation precautions we do are a joke. For instance, the supply cart in the room is used before and after someone with one of these infections is in it. Its contaminated.

Hospitals gross me out and I work in one. It seems like if you are ill they are the last place you want to be. Sometimes you come out worse than when you came in because there are so many opportunities for problems: infections, medication mistakes, etc. Hopefully in the future the environment will be so much better it will make now look like the dark ages.