There are all kinds of questions people ask me . I get asked A LOT about the genetics of homosexuality, which I know almost nothing about. I get asked about the origins of life which I know absolutely nothing about. I get asked how do two blue eyed people have brown eyed kids and I do know something about that, but wish that I didn't as the best explanation is probably the milkman. I always feel awkward when asked these questions, and I find myself wishing that people would ask me a different question. In fact, I know exactly what question I wish people would ask because it is one of the more important questions I could answer, but NO ONE...I repeat NO ONE has ever asked me this question. I sometimes wonder if people know that they should be asking this question....Maybe the general populace doesn't even realize the need for this question. The question is: Are hospitals safe? I try to work this into conversation. For example...
Random stranger I just met: "Could you tell me um .... what do you think about a gene for people being gay?...... Not that I am... just that I can't imagine anyone being gay and so I was wondering why people sometimes are....hem."
Me: "You know, I was just pondering that question the other day and I was thinking it was really important because there are gay people in hospitals and they need to know whether hospitals are safe places ...."
OR
Another random stranger I just met: "You know, people say that life evolved from pond scum, well what do you believe? I mean how do you resolve God and scum?"
Me: You know, I wasn't alive back then and so I just really don't know how life began, but I can tell you about the kind of stuff growing in the scum in hospitals and whether it's safe to go to the hospital or not..."
(You get the idea)
So now are you dying to know the answer to the question...Are you? Are you?
Well then ask it.
Are hospitals safe?
(Hooray!!! Someone finally asked it!)
Now that you know the question, maybe you can guess the answer...
Which is of course a resounding NO!
People who are deathly ill go to hospitals. It's why hospitals exist..... To save people from dying (and to perform surgeries and other dangerous or complicated health procedures). You get really sick people in there. You might catch what they have. A couple of years ago I was really sick with RSV no one wanted to be around me. Well people lots sicker than I was are in hospitals, and being in a hospital doesn't magically take away the contagious nature of disease.
Worse, hospitals are places where antibiotics get used a lot so there is a lot of resistance to antibiotics inside of hospitals.
Worse yet, health care workers who are not careful can carry really bad germs from one patient to the next if they don't change their gloves, change pens and clipboards (or wash their hands before touching them), talk on their cell phones with unwashed hands, etc.
Lots of people get infections that ultimately kill them while they are in hospitals. Sure a death may be attributed primarily to a stroke, but what really killed the patient was the pneumonia they picked up while they were on a ventilator recovering from the stroke.
Now I don't think that hospitals are bad places. There are lots of doctors and nurses in them and the combined expertise of those individuals saves a lot of lives. Also, there is really great equipment in hospitals that saves a lot of lives and if you need the expertise or the equipment present in hospitals, then it is fine to go there.
However, hospitals are not safe places. There are some people I know who prefer to recover in hospitals (Ackk!!!) when they could probably recover just as well at home (perhaps with a nurse assisting at home from time to time). Recovery at home, when possible is a better option usually. There are far fewer sick people in our homes. Even if homes do not appear as clean as a hospital, the multitudes of germs present in our homes probably have less lethal potential than the resistant bugs that manage to survive in the seemingly sterile environment at a hospital. The bugs that survive around hospitals are among the toughest and hardest to kill of the bacteria. They are like the most elite groups of the military who are able to survive in almost any conditions and kill even when the strongest defenses are in place. They are not good bacteria to hang out with.
So next time you go to visit your doctor or see a nurse or go to the hospital, instead of asking them bizarre questions that don't pertain immediately to your health (like whether they think you might be genetically gay because your second cousin is gay.....sorry, I really do get this one a lot), you should instead ask them about whether they have washed their hands and whether they used the same pen and clipboard with the last patient.
6 comments:
Fantastic article! Wow, that is really creepy. So what about the nurse I saw at UMC who was chewing out a girl for delivering her new baby at home instead of at the hospital? The nurse's argument was that the hospital is much cleaner.
I never asked because when I tell you someone is in the hospital, you scream "get them out of there as soon as possible." I already knew how you felt. However now I know more about why.
As I read this article, I chuckled, eagerly read what was next and thoroughly enjoyed it. You are acquiring a reputation.
I think delivering babies at home might be risky business, but it would be because something might go wrong with the delivery or the baby might have a problem and you wouldn't be able to rapidly respond. I don't think the germs in MOST people's houses are worse than a hospital. I can think of a few exceptions however.
Hey-- nice blog.
You are totally right about hospitals being unsafe. As a nurse I would always think about the spread of germs-- we take a blood pressure cuff from room to room all day long without ever disinfecting it (which is only one of many examples). I shudder to think of all of the germs shared just by a blood pressure cuff!
never stop writing about science! i love this blog. I wish I had your skills.
Miriam,
I find it very impressive that you could write this entire entry without using the word 'fomite.' Maybe you should next try to describe how salt tastes without using the word 'salty.'
Let us not forget that human life expectancy has increased by many years since the advent of hospitals, especially since we started washing our hands.
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