Everybody keeps telling us to post pictures, but we can't. Unfortunately our camera died a couple weeks ago so our lovely people who look at our blog can only read about our stories until Ben and I get a new camera.
I just wanted to lecture everybody who reads this blog about hand washing. My family is a bunch of hand washing nazi's. If you look at our hands they are usually cracked and red from washing so much. I wash my hands before I go to work and a hundred times at work and I wash them when it's time to go home from work and then right when I get home from work the first thing I do is wash my hands. When I get home from school the first thing I do when I walk in the door is wash my hands. I carry hand sanitizer in the car so after I fill up with gas I can sanitize my hands. You might think it's rediculous, but I tell you what, if you've seen some of the people I've seen you would wash your hands too. 15 seconds of warm water, soap, and friction is all it takes to prevent you from getting sick.
This is a true story that happened this week. I was at clinicals this week working with babies. One would think that babies are fresh into the world and so they are clean and fresh, but they aren't. They are actually really disgusting creatures. I don't care whose baby it is, it doesn't make them any cleaner. Imagine this: a baby comes up to the floor a few hours after delivery. It is a cute little bugger and you just want to pinch his little cheeks. You observe the nurse because you are the student. The nurse gets things ready for the new borns first bath. When things are ready the nurse picks up the naked baby bare handed. If you don't think that's a big deal then just go ahead now and slap yourself for me because that nurse just touch a new born baby that was covered in amnionic fluid, blood, urine, and feces bare handed. Not to mention the mom who gave birth to that baby had absolutely no prenatal care which means that she has not had any blood test for communicable diseases like std's, hepatitis, aids, tuburculosis, mumps, measles, and etc. After the nurse placed him in the holder she put on her gloves. By then it's too late, she already has the germs on her hands (which are multiplying by the second). When she's done bathing the baby she disposes of her gloves and does not wash her hands. In the meantime she handles everybody elses babies, she's touching pens, stethescopes, doorknobs, patients, elevater buttons, and moving your cup of water aside. YUCK!
If you want to infect yourself in the privacy of your own home that's fine, but when you are out in public you really have the responsiblity of washing your hands. That's not just for healthcare workers either, it's for everyone.
