HealthCare Systems

Following increased media coverage on the cleanliness of hospitals and the danger of deadly ’super bugs’, the Government’s ‘Deep Clean’ policy has been brought in to ensure all hospitals undergo a ‘deep clean’, incorporating everything from the larger elements through to all fixtures and fittings. In response to heightened demand, the market has seen an explosion of products, designed to ensure the ultimate hygienic solution.

Hospital Superbugs

During recent years, the news agenda has been permeated with concerns over the rise in hospital superbugs, culminating in a damning indictment of hygiene levels in the health service. One report showed that a prime stomach bug found in hospitals, Clostridium Difficile claimed 72% more lives in 2006 than it did in 2005. In fact, it was shown that since 1990 the number of people infected by this deadly bug has risen 50-fold. This is in addition to the threat posed by one of the most common hospital superbugs, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) which has been linked to 9,510 deaths since 1993. Illustrating the immense scale of the problem, it has been estimated that almost three times as many people are now killed by hospital infections as are killed on the roads each year.

Government ‘Deep Clean’ Programme

Consequently, in September 2007 the Government announced the ‘Deep Clean’ programme, with an aim for every NHS hospital to be thoroughly cleaned to industrial standards, including all fastenings and fixings, in a bid to tackle such hospital superbugs. As an added knock-on effect of this, the electrical industry has seen an unprecedented demand for products which can work to improve hygiene in healthcare. Many leading manufacturers have subsequently dedicated significant resource to developing highly innovative and advanced solutions for healthcare institution, helping contractors and installers meet this developing requirement.

Products with Antimicrobial Properties

There is, for example, an expansive array of cable management products with antimicrobial properties, designed specifically for industries where hygiene is a top priority. As microbial organisms can also cause product deterioration, discoloration and bad odours, these products combine antimicrobial treatments to help prevent these effects and provide an extra level of protection when combined with normal cleaning procedures. These systems typically use a bespoke PVC-U treated with a silver-based material. This delivers ongoing antimicrobial properties that prevent 99.9% of harmful bacteria growth, without impacting on the effectiveness of the product itself, even if scratched or damaged.

Studies Show Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Treatments

To provide a clearer understanding of the undisputed effect of such systems, numerous studies have been completed, comprising of separate testing for MSRA and Klebsiella Pneuoniae, in accordance with ISO 22196:2007 on a Bio and a non-Bio sample, to expose the known quantity of bacteria under laboratory conditions. Following a period of 24 hours, the quantity of bacteria still present was measured. These studies have shown, in both cases, the survival rate of bacteria on the Bio sample to be less than 0.1%.

Scratch-Free Designs Reduce Dirt Traps

Many premium electrical accessories brands have also developed equally innovative solutions to aid in the healthcare sector’s ongoing battle against superbugs. Health environments can look to safeguard from germs by using wiring accessories which incorporate a high grade thermoset material with similar inherent properties to antimicrobial additives, helping to significantly inhibit the growth of infectious diseases. Again, these products even incorporate a scratch-free design meaning there are no dirt traps for bacteria to breed.

Broader Solutions Offer Hygiene, Adaptability & Security

Looking to the wider picture, while hygiene is the primary focus of such solutions, many manufacturers have also given considerable time to introducing added benefits to the health sector. To allow for utmost flexibility, many of these ranges include single and double gang socket outlets and are available in either switched or unswitched. These are suitable for all builds, ensuring the benefit of easily ‘adding on’ as needs evolve. To ensure maximum safety in an environment where it is so pivotal, others boast a highly effective ‘child resistant shutter system’, which only opens when the plug is positioned correctly and can considerably reduce misuse. This provides a comprehensive solution for the key healthcare issues of hygiene, adaptability and security.

As the media continues to dedicate news time and column inches to the issues around cleanliness within health establishments, there will remain an environment of concern around hygiene. As a result, the increasing demands for electrical products which can contribute to any hygiene regime will only escalate and contractors will need to stay aware of this in order to meet the evolving needs of their customer and, in turn, provide a competitive edge and make healthy profits.

Neem is not only a great remedy for the treatment of several diseases in humans, but it has also been used for several years to get rid of pet’s fleas and infections. Certainly the neem oil is very helpful to improve the condition of your skin and to get rid of several bacterial problems including acne and boils. For animals, this oil is used to kill the bacteria that can cause infections and is a great way to kill the fleas that are often found on animals. Many people like to keep pets at their home, and even in their bed rooms, which can prove very dangerous for the health of a person, if the pet is not properly washed. For this reason, people use the water extracted from the neem leaves and its oil to bath their pets, so that the infectious diseases are not promoted from the pet to the people living at home.

Besides this neem leaf has the benefit to increase the activity level of immune system and has been found very effective for ensuring the proper functioning of liver, respiratory and digestive system. Moreover, it is healthy detoxifier of blood and is very popular for treating diabetes and malarial infections. There are several neem products available in market for treating different problems related to skin, nails, infections and stomach problems. Its tea and capsules are very useful to cleanse the blood in a natural manner without causing any kind of side effects.

In addition to this neem in pets not only acts as a solution for killing fleas, but also promotes the action as a great anti-bacterial, anti-septic and anti-viral product. Similarly for the human beings it has brought several medical benefits and acts as a great anti-fungal and blood purifier medicine. Moreover, quite amazingly it has proved as an effective means to control birth and to treat teeth and gum problems.

We can simply say that neem for people, is one of the best gifts of God which has brought treatment to almost any kind of disease. Its benefits are unlimited and it is used for the treatment of many severe diseases including AIDS, ulcers, kidney problems, heart problems, hepatitis, diabetes and cancer to name a few dominant ones. There are several shampoos and soaps which are prepared from the neem not only for humans, but also for washing animals. Moreover, its spray is used by the farmers to kill insects and pests from their plants and vegetables.

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The history of scrubs can be dated all the way back to the 19th century when nursing was not a formal profession. Women usually used their knowledge of first aid or midwifery to attend to their own or other’s children and other women at the expense of the state’s health services. At that time they were not given much respect and dressed up more like servants. For better recognition a formal and more proper uniform was assigned for them around the 1840s whereas by 1880 owing to the contributions of Florence Nightingale it was regarded as a more reputable profession.

Since then many variations and changes were introduced into the basic hat and gown typical for nurses. It was not until the First World War that the nurse’s uniform underwent major changes to make it more comfortable and convenient for mobility and routine work. Functionality was regarded as essential to the way nurses dressed up and hence their gowns turned into short skirts with short sleeved tops to go with them.

By 1930s fashion and style was incorporated into these uniforms mainly because of the increasing number in which women started to contribute into other professions. Over many decades a lot of variations were made to the basic dresses initially used by nurses giving functionality top most priority without overlooking the element of fashion and style.

In 1970 scrubs emerged as the latest rage especially amongst male doctors and nurses. It was then that the clothing scene for medical professionals was revolutionized and uniforms were designed to distinguish untrained staff from trained ones. Since then the scrubs have been popularly adopted as convenient clothing for medical use.

Owing to the increasing demand for these, a lot of companies have dedicated their services solely to making comfortable uniforms and apparels for medical professionals. Peaches scrubs is amongst them. Their range of styles, designs and colors ensures maximum compatibility and comfort for a large number of related individuals.

Whether you go for clothing by Peaches scrubs or any other manufacturer you must give ease the most importance and weight age when analyzing different types of uniforms. The reason for offering such a great variation is that choosing different colors and styles helps to distinguish the departments from one another and they also let you choose something that you feel confident and happy working in. end of the day its you personality and satisfaction that reflects through your appearance and work respectively.

Now that most of us are aware that traditional medicine, known as allopathic medicine, does not necessarily have your best interest at heart, it is time to continue our exploration of alternative health therapies.

I don’t want you to think I am being too hard on allopathic practitioners. If you have not yet read the ‘hippocratic oath’ then I suggest you search it out and read it. The hippocratic oath is a credo that doctors pride themselves on following. Doctors often cite the hippocratic oath in defence of their choices. But if they had to adhere to the oath as it was originally written and intended, I suspect that very few doctors could legally continue their practices.

When ever there is an action for which money is the reward, then you have a system open to corruption. Let’s examine a piece of the original hippocratic oath text. It says, “I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.”

Now lets examine how this piece of text has changed. Today it says, “I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of over treatment and therapeutic nihilism.”

What this means is that they will follow the lead of doctors employed by universities and research labs. Well guess who funds those labs? You got it – big pharma funds all of the research and big pharma will decide which studies see the light of day and which ones do not.

If you have any doubt about this, then search out Dr. Kilmer McCully and find out why Harvard Medical School was forced to stop paying him! He was among the first to identify that cholesterol is not a problem – that there are other co-factors involved. I will cover this extensively in another article. Meanwhile, doctors continue to prescribe billions of dollars worth of statin drugs to try to interfere with the body’s natural need for cholesterol.

The modern hippocratic oath also says, ” I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.” The problem here, though, is that there is no money in it for doctors to prevent disease! If your doctor is going to review your lifestyle and habits and make recommendations to prevent disease, then he is going to have to spend a great deal of time questioning you and examining your life habits. When was the last time you spent 45 minutes having a fireside chat with your doctor? I’m betting that you have never done this.

Under the modern compensation models, there is no incentive for doctors to perform in this way. To be fair to doctors too, I don’t think that most people would follow their advice if it was forthcoming. That is another systemic problem with society at large. The people that control everything don’t want you to change. They want you to start getting sick in your 40s so that they can sell you the latest drugs. There are simply too many billions of dollars at stake here.

If you are one who wants to slip under the radar and “beat the odds”, then you are going to have to do some diligence. You are going to have to find out all you can about staying healthy. It is going to have to become a focus in your life. My experience tells me that this isn’t going to happen in people under 40 years old. We all know that kids think they are bullet proof! I certainly never imagined any serious thing happening to me until I got heart palpitations at 49. At that point, my state of health got my attention and forced me to significantly change the way I do things.

As a professional researcher I already had strong research skills. All I had to do was change my focus to health care. Now I understand the systems and processes that happen in a human body, perhaps better than many doctors do. My own doctor, with whom I went to high school, was not able to keep up with me on most aspects of preventative medicine. Asking him to do so would be rather like asking a one legged man to enter a “butt-kicking” contest!

I encourage everyone to take an interest in their health. As you get older, you are going to realize that it is all you have. As a very first step, find out all you can about alkalinity and the alkaline diets. Find some Hunzana pH Drops and start making all of your drinking water fit for human consumption. That should be your starting point. After that, do your diligence and find out all you can about maintaining perfect health.

Quick quiz…after you get a truly great doctor and fantastic medical coverage, what one thing do you still need to insure your safety in a hospital? Think about it. Are you going in for a hip replacement, new elbow or knee? Likely you’ll be knocked out and have a few hours in recovery. If it is a big deal you may be staying a few nights in the hospital and maybe up to a week in a rehabilitation facility. Give up? You’re going to need a Patient Advocate Ninja.

Think of Mr. ‘T’ in scrubs. Start lining up a full blown body guard with nursing background and a touch of Sherlock Holmes. Maybe your third grade teacher will do (mine could stop a clock). Bottom line, you’re going to need someone to fight for your rights, guard your stuff and check your meds while you are drifting off to La-la-land. Maybe the next time I get sick I will simply hire the cast of the Chippendale dancers and check into the Biltmore Hotel. It will be cheaper, better service and with a much improved disposition of staff.

I have ‘graduated’ from every new age, self-help, religious and motivational program ever invented (yes, ’sucker’ is written on my forehead). Tony, Jack, Werner, Brian, Napoleon, and Norman; I love you guys. Yet NONE of it prepared me for what lay ahead lurking in the hallways of our great healing institutions after Visiting Hours. I was, it seems, an educated, well-rounded, lightly basted renaissance sitting duck.

I was paralyzed from the waist down in 30 minutes by a rare neuro-immune disease. The shock of losing use of my legs was NOTHNG compared to the shock of losing my dignity, and darn near my life, by bumbling staff who apparently never took Economics 101. You know, the part where the patient’s payment pays your salary. Ergo: a) don’t treat the patient with disdain and b) don’t kill them off or they will stop paying your wages.

From first hand reports I hear, very few hospital are prepared for the patient load. Maybe the bean counters decided one nurse could actually care for 10 or more patients at a time. But speaking as one of those it’s a bad idea. I was given drugs improperly bringing on shock. I was asked repeatedly to get up and use the commode. Read the chart Art, if I could walk I’d get up and leave.

This from an article on the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (aacn.org): The ANA, which worked closely with Sen. Inouye’s office on the bill, lobbied for this legislation (nurse-patient ratio laws) to protect patients and registered nurses, given the absence of enforceable standards for nurse staffing in hospitals and the widespread practice of health care facilities stretching their nursing staff with unsafe patient loads, mandatory overtime, “floating” to specialty units without training and orientation and other practices that undermine the delivery of safe, quality care.

Speaking of floating, another time my bladder was not monitored, until it was at near fatal levels pushing toward kidney failure. I was of course blamed for not telling the staff I felt bloated. ‘My bad!” However in all fairness to me, I am…what was that long word on my chart that apparently no one can read… PARALYZED. FYI to the staff, strangely enough for some folks (moi), paralyzed means cannot feel anything. “I know, perhaps while I monitor my bladder, blood levels, fluid intake and out take I could manage your Mutual Fund Portfolio. I am such a slacker laying here with all this free time just wasted away in Marguerita-Morphine-Ville.” Yish!

Add to that being given the wrong pills. Oh, did I mention the infection on my arms from too many IVs? The night doctor said ice packs, the day doctor said heating pads. What to do? I used ice packs based on the fact that the night doctor was nicer. and cuter. (So sue me for sexual harassment; I was on death’s door. I cared?) And I was robbed (okay, it was only 4 Godiva candy bars @$4 a pop, but it wasn’t like I could jump in a car and go get more, was it?) And what goes better with morphine than chocolate?

I was misdiagnosed for the first two days. Fortunately I had a friend from my church who was a doctor who came to my rescue. He urged the hospital to get a neurologist. Once there the pleasant neuro-chappie diagnosed my condition in 5 minutes, thus saving my legs, so I can now walk. (LISTEN TO ME: Get these Patient Advocate Ninja people lined up in advance folks, you may need them.)

But what to do if you are in a strange place when all this occurs? Fortunately there is a movement afoot called the National Patient Advocate Foundation and they have a companion organization the Patient Advocate Foundation. These fine folks are for hire to help patients. This from their mission statement:

National Patient Advocate Foundation (npaf.org) is a national non-profit organization providing the patient voice in improving access to, and reimbursement for, high-quality health care through regulatory and legislative reform at the state and federal levels. NPAF translates the experience of millions of patients who have been helped by our companion, Patient Advocate Foundation (Patientadvocate.org), which provides professional case management services to individuals facing barriers to healthcare access for chronic and disabling disease, medical debt crisis and employment-related issues at no cost.

The NPAF and PAF is a great start, but let me tell you, you’re going to want to line up someone who can come with you into your room. A person who can watch your back when you’re, well, flat out on that back. This might be a good time to befriend a linebacker or a Harley rider, just saying.

I am not insinuating that all nurses are Nurse Ratched and all doctors are from TV’s “Nip Tuck”, but it only takes one bad apple to ruin a really pleasant hospital stay (and life).

Dietitians are a unique breed of medical professional whose particular area of study revolves around the science of what we eat, and what the things that we eat do to our bodies both in the short and long term.

Anytime you’ve ever heard a press release on the news about some aspect of a food group that’s either good or bad for you, you’re hearing the conclusions of dietitians who are conducting studies about the effects of certain types of food.

Human dieting is something that is receiving an increased level of focus, especially with the number of eating disorders that people suffer with in the Western world these days.

The digestive process that takes place from the time we ingest food into our bodies to the time that exits us as waste product is a complicated one, any ingredients that go into the foods we eat are becoming increasingly complex.

Each of them has an effect on things like our metabolism, our ability to lose weight, and our ability to live our lives to the fullest, and part of the dietitians duties are helping people to maintain a proper balance in their diet, based on what their goals in life may be.

For example, a dietitian is going to have a very different opinion on what a relatively skinny man who is about to undergo a bodybuilding regimen should eat, as opposed to a relatively heavy person who is trying to lose weight without starving themselves.

There’s a lot more to the science of dieting than just counting calories, and this is usually why the scientific advice that dietitians have to offer the public should be closely heeded. They are usually the ones who have the privilege to give the final stamp of approval on whatever big dieting craze is about to sweep the country.

People will put themselves through some pretty crazy dieting routines in order to achieve their weight-loss goals, often without knowledge about what long term effects are being accrued from their newly adopted eating habits.

Just because someone is losing weight doesn’t necessarily mean that they have a healthy diet, or that their diet isn’t causing them more harm than good in the broader scheme of things.

It’s this type of analysis that dietitians are known for in their field, and they take the responsibility of educating the public about newly discovered scientific research about particular foods very seriously, and do so in a way that’s easily digestible to the general public.

Unfortunately, some of this advice can be misinterpreted by people who are perhaps less educated in topics concerning their health. For example, advice given out about too many carbohydrates being unhealthy can be interpreted as meaning that all carbohydrates are unhealthy, which is inaccurate. Carbohydrates are a necessary fuel source for the body.

Dietitian’s represent a critical aspect of medical science, and they adhere closely to the philosophy that you are what you eat. Use a little common sense, and their advice can serve as an excellent source of guidance for how to maintain a healthy diet.

When we go to our local hospital the last consideration any one of us wants to have to think about is what to do to protect ourselves from the hospital. But that is just what we should be thinking of now that MRSA and other staph infections kill close to a thousand people a year at hospitals across the country.

Due to a rise in antibiotic use prescribed for any and all reasons including simple cold viruses and flu viruses, many opportunistic infections have found a way to mutate and do not oftentimes respond to the typical treatment with antibiotics. Hospitals have become breeding grounds for these infections and the average physician seems to be caught off guard when it comes to treating them. It is evident that the average hospital staff has not put into practice the necessary hygiene practices required to protect its facilities and patients against them. It is going to take a massive overhaul approach by hospitals in this country if we are to eradicate these frightening infections both in the way they clean and the way they treat bacterial disease.

There are alternative ways of treating bacterial infections. Libraries and bookstores have information out there about not only the use of herbal remedies, but about such practices as the use of bacterial phages, something researched prior to the discovery of antibiotics. Those in the medical profession and Pharmaceutical industry would do their patients a service to study these therapies and thoroughly investigate their safety as we are in a crisis when it comes to hospital safety and need to find a way out.

A person doesn’t have to look very far to find someone who has lost a parent or grandparent or other relative not due to the illness they were initially admitted for, but due to a lost battle with a staph infection their bodies in their weakened state fell prey to. Some have become blind when equipment wasn’t cleaned properly using an autoclave or during a so-called outpatient procedure; a routine cataract operation. Others have come down with pneumonia and MRSA after being admitted with such complications as a seizure. Still others have acquired bowel infections; some of them turning out to be fatal and others have come down with herpes after receiving a colonoscopy.

Hospitals should not have to be institutions the general public fears and dreads and avoids, not only for the enormous astronomical bill they will receive, but also for the real possibility that they might not get out alive. They instead should be places where those admitted can rest assured that those hospital overseers will do everything possible to treat them and provide the best innovative science and medical technology has to offer in one of the cleanest environments on earth.

Our medical system has become nothing but a business and in many respects a dishonest one at that. It is high time it returned to being a relationship between a patient and their doctor; a hospital being a place of refuge and healing where people are cared for. If careful measures are taken and conscientious people intervene, it can hopefully become just that.

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