Another Reason Not To Get Sick

This is a dirty leg bendy machine resting on a clean bed. It's also known as a CPM (continuous passive motion), but I prefer the term, leg bendy machine, because then the patients know what I'm talking about.

The problem is that it was taken off a patient, and put on a clean bed. The end of the machine that rests against and sometimes digs into the patient's private parts is resting where the next patient will put her head. This kind of thing drives me nuts.

Another popular place for the leg bendy machine is on the floor. Later, when the machine is put back on the patient, all of the nasty bugs on the floor are then transported into the patient's bed and then ground into the patient's crotch. Infections are running rampant and people wonder why.

And then, there is the finger thingy (O2 sat machine). To measure how much oxygen is in the patient's blood, we stick their finger in a small device. We go from patient to patient spreading finger bugs.

The dirtiest part of a patient is usually the fingers. People scratch their wounds and touch every part of their body with their fingers. If I'm looking for a man's hands under the blanket, I have a good idea where they will be, resting on his privates. I will remove his hand from his penis, put his finger in the machine and then move onto the next patient who likely is doing the same thing.

Even for the patients with known antibiotic resistant infections, we do the same. In theory, we should have dedicated equipment for isolation patients, but we don't have enough equipment to go around. The same equipment has to be used on everybody and is not cleaned, ever.

If I'm ever in the hospital, I'm going to keep hand-cleaning wipes next to my bed to wipe my hands every time my O2 sat is checked and hope that my bed hasn't been used to store dirty equipment.