Infection control

Traumadoc

My question is to the health workers here.
Every patient who turns up in hospital has blood pressure taken, Oxygen saturation measured and temperature.

My question is in your hospital what happens to the equipment used: is it disposed of or sterilised or just used on the next patient.

In my hospital the blood pressure cuffs are just rolled up and used on the next patient.

Vorsprung

I'm fairly sure Vincent's is the same.

wheresthebeef

equipment like that is re-used on the next patient. and is only cleaned periodically, at the discretion of staff. infection control policies state that when equipment like that is to be used on an infectious patient, that the patient should have their own items, however this is not always practical or enforced. disposable oxygen saturation monitors are available and are widely used in paediatric area's but adults are usually done with the re-usable finger probe. temperature is usually taken tympanically with a disposable probe cover on the thermometer. alternatively, axillary or oral temperatures may be taken using a theremometer with a disposable cover.
this is probably an area where under-funding does not allow staff to treat disposable items as disposable, or to give each patient a bp cuff etc.... of their own if infectious dieases are present.

Traumadoc

yes thats my experience- you use a BP cuff on a patient, roll it up, use it on the nest patient. three days later the swabs come back pos for MRSA. That BP cuff could have been used on a hundred patients in the meantime and still would not be cleaned.
The temperature probe does have a cover for the tip but the machine itself rarely gets cleaned. The same with stethescopes, patella hammers etc.

Dr Galen

yep thats what happens. and thats been my point before about how it takes 2/3 days for the MRSA swabs to come back, meanwhile we're going on as normal

chuci

the health system is way too under funded no wonder people are loosing faith. in cork you just roll it up and move on to the next patient though all single rooms on most wards have all their own equip. though the tempanics always seem to grow legs regardless. the obs rooms have monitors mounted on walls next to the beds alright with ecg leads and stuff handy out iy sould reall be by every bed. in other hospitals do you have nurses who are rostered to stay with just isolation patients for the day? or is it whatever section your on you deal with the work load and go in and out of every room?

tallaght01

in the neonatal unit where I work, we never use the same cuffs on different kids. We have disposable cuffs. However, I reckon that, for political reasons, we're better funded than most units. It's a pretty ballsy politician that cuts expenditure in the special baby unit, as the media would have a field day. Therefore we can afford steps like this. Also, you're guranteed a front page spread over here if you get MRSA in a kiddy unit. I once workd in a neonatal unit in the UK where there was a brief outbreak of MRSA and it was headline news on the 6pm news in Scotland!