If you ever need to visit a hospital to see a loved one, a NZ nurse (and Capsule reader) has a piece of advice about what you shouldn’t do – that she sees people do all day long at her hospital!
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Sure, we all know that we shouldn’t visit a hospital when we’re sick, and even when we’re well we should still wash our hands and wear a mask as much as possible. We know many hospital wards don’t allow flowers (at least not freshly cut ones in water anyway) and that we should check visiting hours before turning up.
But, a nurse, Jill, who works at a major hospital in NZ says there’s one thing she sees visitors do many, many times a day that they seem to be unaware is against the rules.
“It’s using the patients bathrooms in the hospital,” she says.
“So many visitors ignore the patients only sign and use them. I’ve heard people say they’ll ‘risk’ using them, as though they are carrying the risk that they could pick up an bug from using them. And yes, that risk exists, but really, we’re trying to keep our patients safe. Patients are in hospital because they have something serious going on. The last thing they need is to pick up a virus, or, worse case scenario antimicrobial resistant bacteria – essentially, that’s an infection that cannot be controlled by antibiotics.”
Jill says people often say they’re well and healthy and don’t need to bother with masks in hospitals, or taking extra precautions, but she says that person may not be symptomatic – or, they may be feeling well, but are about to present with symptoms, in which case, they could still be contagious.
“When you’re in a hospital, you’re best to act as though you have something you may pass on to other people,” she says. “That means, use hand sanitiser repeatedly – especially before touching surfaces. Wear a mask. And, use the visitors bathrooms – yes, they’re often a bit more of a walk away, but it’s a good step in keeping yourself, and most importantly, our patients safe.”
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