Why are there so many hospital borne infections?

It’s because A.) hospitals inevitably have a lot of pathogens and B.) there is no way to kill 100% of bacteria, and when you kill 99% of them, the 1% that survive are the “strongest” ones (to put it simply). These go on to reproduce and superbugs evolve.

It’s a hospital. They’re typically full of sick people. Lysol and hand sanitizer can only do so much.

The staff do not wash their hands properly.

Because there are so many sick people and thus germs, Also, there is a lot of antibiotic use, which creates resistant germs.

Hospitals are full of people who are sick and bacteria are very good at spreading themselves quickly and surviving on surfaces for rather long periods of time. C difficile is especially tough to get rid of, even with standard cleaning procedures being adhered to.

Staff hand washing is only a small part of the problem. The patients and visitors don’t wash after touching hand rails, door knobs. Often, nursing staff have such dry cracked skin from washing their hands that they are better carriers of the pathogens. Gloves, gloves and more gloves, and then wash your hands and clean hard surfaces that are exposed to bacteria with an alcohol based cleaner that is spread on with a paper towel and then left to evaporate.

Food handlers are horrible and under-trained. Want a shock? Visit the hospital kitchen.

@Rarebear Amen. I work for a doctor and have NEVER seen her wash her hands. Her PA’s have never witnessed a hand washing either.

@chyna that is disgusting! I work in child care centres now and we have strict routines even for just cutting up the kids fruit in the afternoon. Then again, when I have met doctors in their private life, (not here in Norway.. but other places I have lived) their kids were always the sickest ones and their own health was always really shocking. Goes for a few nurses I know too.

Relevant: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2324247/Womens-handbags-contaminated-bacteria-average-toilet.html?ico=health%5Eheadlines

So, people in general don’t do enough cleaning, around the sick, far from we are “we too clean” philosophy, right? That doctor who never washes her hands probably thinks we are too clean.

It is all of the above, plus usually a lack of warning and proper teaching. And just face it, at the end of the day there is always going to be people who “forget” or “didn’t have the time”, or “weren’t told the proper procedure” or who simply just “doesn’t give a f*#K!” It happens all the time.

“far from we are “we too clean” philosophy, right?”

@flo – not right. In general, when people talk about being “too clean” regarding modern health and resistance to infection/bacteria/“allergens” etc., they’re talking about our not being exposed to naturally occurring things in our environment in childhood.

When dealing with a highly infectious situations that arise in hospitals, you can’t be too clean.

Not exactly, @flo . Those super-bugs exist now because of over use of antibacterials and antibiotics, so NOW, we have no choice but to be overly cautions when there is a known outbreak. We also don’t want to create offshoots of the little bastards, but its too late. Bacteria and parasites and viruses have us humans completely outclassed in their clever survival ability.

@iamthemob people hardly automatically change their behaviour when they step into hopitals and then step out of hospitals.

I used to work in a Hospital and witnessed lazy procedures.
After awhile staff did not bother!
I remember one time cleaning around a patient and asked another worker “why’ the red tape on the floor surrounding the bed?
Apparently “this” was the isolation area!
Too many people ,patients,staff etc are running around in a hurry so they become lax in procedures requiring safety etc.
That is now why patients are quickly sent home, to avoid any more exposure.

@chyna It’s not only doctors.