Reflections: Taking pride in proper cleaning good for all of us
- Maria Campbell | April 30, 2014
A national health survey recently completed about the state of 'cleanliness' in Canadian hospitals reported that "nearly 40 percent of hospital infection control experts believe their hospitals aren't clean enough to prevent the spread of the toxic gut infection C. difficile and other potentially lethal organisms and that about 220,000 Canadians will be sickened this year with an infection they picked up in a hospital." Those are pretty scary statistics but not surprising to anyone who has spent time in a hospital. I recently spent several weeks in one with a relative and was appalled at what I observed.
The floors for example, although they looked clean and should have been as a man was diligently moving from one location to another either on a cleaning machine or with a mop and pail all day long. But on closer observation, the edges of the floors, against the walls, and piled in the corners were dust balls and accumulated dirt. The kind that only comes off when scraped and scrubbed which means it has been accumulating for a very long time. As my mom, who was a clean freak would have said, "That man gave the pretense of working very hard giving that floor a lick and a polish but cleaning he was not."
It was even worse in the hospital room, the staff walked into the private room once a day pushing a cart full of important looking cleaners. Using a damp cloth they wiped off the table, but they didn't move anything. They wiped off the windowsills then with the same cloth they went into the bathroom where you could hear the water being turned on, but not once did I see them touch the cleaners on the cart nor did I see them wash the cleaning cloth or change it. Now imagine how dirty that cloth is by the time it has gone through the room and, one can't help but wonder how often it is sterilized or changed as it goes through the entire ward.
The nurses walked in and out adjusting tubes, administering medicines, giving needles, emptying bedpans etc. and most of the time they wore gloves to protect themselves but they didn't change them to protect the patient. Sometimes instruments were dropped on the floor, picked up and used but not cleaned. I became quiet alarmed after the Dr. told us he was concerned about the patient contacting infections after his surgery so I reported what I was observing to the head nurse. She not very happy about the report and I was reminded that I too brought germs into the room and could just as easily infect the patient. They were all, she said, "doing their best." I was not complaining about their care giving as they were kind to the patient and they were all working hard; however, I was concerned just like the doctor, that the patient could contact an infection and he did and yes, it could have been anyone of us bringing it in. The anti- bacterial machines, which are placed through out the hospital, were always empty and although we were constantly washing our hands I doubt it would have made much difference. By way we were told by one of the nurses that people came in several times a day and stole the anti-bacterial bags. When we asked what on earth for we were told that people drink it. I can't even imagine what that must taste like but somebody certainly has clean guts in this province!
I have spent many weeks in and out of hospitals in the past 50 years, with the old people in my family and also with family members who have been terminally ill but what I have seen and experienced in these last few years are a real cause for concern and it is for other people as well. The national health survey report just confirms what we already know.
We may have advanced as far as medicine is concerned but when it comes to basic things like cleanliness we have gone backwards and we all have to take some responsibility for this. Administrators say they need more money so they can hire more people but if those people do not know how to clean nor care about it then what is the point of bringing in more of them.
Cleaning is no different then any other work. It is about pride in what we are doing and believing that it is of importance and I believe that is what is missing. Cleaning in our society is considered menial work, the lowest of the low so why should anyone take pride in it. Very few children are taught anymore how to clean their rooms and pick up after themselves much less clean the house or wash up after dinner. And if no one is teaching them then how can we expect them to know how to do it as adults and, as long as it is considered menial work there will be very little pride ever taken in doing it right.
We are all to blame in any number of small ways. Its in the way we teach our children, it is in the things we value and in the way we take care of each other and the way we honor one another and life around us. All of that is reflected back to us in the behavior of our society, governments and institutions.