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It was the harrowing story about Margaret Hudson, of Jarrow that had me throw light on this problem. Hospital officials are investigating after a nurse banned a daughter from her dying mother's bedside. Margaret Hudson was ordered home while her 107-year-old mother called out her name at South Tyneside District Hospital. She was informed relatives could only stay during visiting hours. The ageing 75-year-old daughter was denied holding her mothers hand and to comfort her. She returned later with only minutes to go before her mother passed away. The hospital has apologised. It is too late for sorry. Did the nurse in question not have a mother? Fair enough should the presence of the daughter have interfered with medical practice taking place, then understandable, but this was not the case .
Miss Hudson said: "Mam was suffering and calling out my name so I asked could I be at her side, but was rudely told ‘no'. This was evidently a time for compassion Hudson said that she offered to pay for a private room but the cold hearted nurse turned her back and said 'we don't have one', and sent her packing. We have all been taught to respect people who save lives but when they prevent those living to say goodbye to their loved ones, is an inhumane act where respect is gone. May this nurse hold her head in shame for a long time?
"I've been caring for mam every day for the past 25 years and when she needed me most I was not there." said Hudson. Her mother was admitted to hospital after suffering a stomach upset and slept through the first night after her daughter was sent home. However, her condition deteriorated and doctors called her daughter, who returned at the official visiting time in the afternoon. A spokesman for South Tyneside Hospital said the matter is under investigation. He said: "On balance, we feel that on this sad occasion our staff was not as obliging as they might have been and, in retrospect, the lady should have been allowed to stay.
Are hospitals taking lives instead of saving them? Risk factors for hospital-acquired (HA) MRSA include:
MRSA remains a major concern in hospitals, it was reported in 2007 that 1.2 million hospital patients are infected with MRSA each year in America alone, these figures are quite scary and the number for those colonized is estimated at 423,000. MRSA is far more widespread in old people's care homes than in hospitals. Carriers of the disease have can spread germs, even if they're not sick themselves. The aged and ailing are more susceptible.
Patients on dialysis, or catheterized, or have feeding tubes are at higher risk. MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus an infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (staph.) Many years ago, staph emerged in hospitals which were opposed to the broad-spectrum antibiotics normally used to treat it. It is an infection of seriousness, so serious it can kill. It was one of the first germs to outsmart all but the most influential drugs.
Regular place of habitat for Staph bacteria to settle are normally on the skin or in the nasal region. If a patient has staph in the nose or on the skin and shows no sign of sickness, are usually "colonized." Staph bacteria are generally harmless like most other body bacteria's, however if permitted to enter the body through an open cut, it can cause minor skin issues.
Symptoms of the Staph infection are easily recognized as little red bumps similar to acne pimples, boils or spider bites. Rapidly they can turn into painful abscesses that will need surgical draining. In some cases the bacteria may stay curbed to the skin, if the bacteria tunnels into the body, it poses threat - causing infections in bones, joints, bloodstream, the heart valves and lungs. Of course if body organs that keep us alive are infected then this is when the infection can turn killer.
Clostridium difficile
Healthcare associated infections have increased. One of the most prevalent and potentially dangerous is caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff or C. difficile. There is no evading this type bacteria, it is everywhere i.e. the air we breathe – the water we drink. It is harmless unless it develops in great masses in the intestinal tract of people taking antibiotics or other antimicrobial drugs. C. difficile symptoms range from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammations of the colon. Cdiff isn't directed to hospitals altogether. It's a growing health concern regardless.
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a spore shaping bacterium present as one of the 'normal' bacteria in the gut of up to 3 per cent of healthy grown ups. Patients treated with broad spectrum antibiotics are at greatest risk of C. difficile. As like MRSA the risks increase if elderly or have a weak immune system. The number of death certificates in England and Wales mentioning Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection increased each year from 1999 to 2006. In 2006 there were a staggering 6,480 death certificates which mentioned C. difficile, a 72 per cent increase from 2005. Among death certificates with a mention of C. difficile, the percentage for which it was the underlying cause of death was similar (around 55 per cent) in each year.
This concern needs to remedied fast. Calling for "strict" hygiene standards in our hospitals is not enough; it has to be a "stricter" calling.
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