Would you shake a muddy hand?

cjolene, when I worked in the hospital I washed my hands before and after every patient, so I was washing them constantly. Most of us had a tube of unscented hand lotion in our pockets that would be used as soon as we were finished washing. At night I would lube the hands well before going to bed. I should have bought stock in the hand lotion company!
I'd rather buy cartons of hand lotion than be the one to spread and infection.

Absolutely, drs, and all medical staff should wash their hands especially before they examine you, or draw your blood etc. etc!! A MD that was a co-worker, before pumpkins, had those fake nails done at a local upscale beauty parloron on a regular basis contracted a nasty pusty gross draining infection in her nailbeds. ...Yep after several days, several patients contracted the same strain of that gross infection....Yep..several clients at that same upscale beauty parlor also contracted that nasty virulent infection from the manicurists' poorly disinfected utensils! Before anybody touches you at your next appointment or hospital visit, if you don't see them directly WASH THEIR HANDS in your presence, politely request that they do so and not one of those flip it quick under the water without any soap handwashings either! Your body, your health, your loved one will thank you!.... Just my little red cent! (Of course there are many diligent health care providers who do practice good handwashing techniques) ;0)

Edited for silly grammar error- LOL!

This message was edited Dec 14, 2006 2:38 PM

Garden_mermaid- if you announced earlier that you were a nurse, I didn't remember it. I certainly wasn't aiming any comment at you. I couldn't use lotion because of ezcema. I still haven't found one that doesn't cause me to break out. I have to use straight vaseline and I didn't want to use that in a hospital- it just seems to me that it would collect bacteria and help spread it around.

DH has had many extensive stays in major Houston hospital. The last tour was cardiac surgery and they had started the antibacterial pump when going in or coming out of ICU. Previously, they would ask you to wash but the baths were inadequate at that ICU waiting room. When he was moved to a room, they still had the pumps on every room door. When we came home, our GP was reviewing the meds and inquired as to why they had given him quite a potent antibiotic. We didn't know. But in conversation, the pumps came up. Matter of factly he said ~ apparently they were trying to control a bad staff infection. Since then, we have heard many of our smaller hospitals dealing with staff infections. Cjolene, I had read your sons' health problems and will hope it is behind you both! Best wishes pod

Lets face it. Hospitals are where the germs and bacteria and virus' are. Can't get around it. My roommate worked in the Infectious Disease Lab at Stanford Med Center. Problems with passing germs etc go well beyound nurses washing their hands. Staph comes to mind. Its everywhere and on everything. All you can do is be smart and hope for the best. No guarantees.

Ooooppps Staff ~ Staph, oh well what's the diff. We know a dr that will not let his loved ones go into a hosp. We aren't all so fortunate to take care of them at home tho.

Oh Podster,
I was using the shortened term. Its spelled STAPHYLOCOCCUS. Staph.
It can be deadly and its everywhere. My friend tested EVERYTHING coming into the hospital for staph.

Oh Aguane ~ please don't take me wrong. I reread my post and said "duh, I did know better". I made my comment with a chuckle at myself, sorry. Gotta laugh at myself often, it makes me easier to stand! : )) pod

While we're talking germs... boy pumpkin said the other day "I'm not hungry, Mom, that teenager has mud in his fingernails!" We were of course at a popular fast food diner, and.... yep the lad had muck ruck mud under his nails as he was taking our order! Yuck... we politely left as he was slinging his hair out of his eyes!

As I get older, I am really loathe to eat out. I think it is a healthy option and y'all are reinforcing it. pod

podster,

It is gross. You wouldn't believe all the stuff that goes on behind doors. When I worked in restraunts, long ago, I was one to keep myself and my hands clean. But even still, I stank to high heaven when I got home. And they would only give me 2 uniforms. It was a royal pain. I waitressed... some may think this is taking it to extremes but, I disinfected all my tip money in pine sole and stuff... I couldn't bare to use the money with the way it smelled. Money is another very nasty thing. If you deal with the public a lot and/or handle money... plan on getting sick often.

The bad part is, the Health Code requires the "sneeze guards" on the salad and food bars. But that's not the problem. Most folks don't even stand above the "sneeze guards". And I see people letting their kids stick their bare hands into everything. YUCK!!!!!

Usually, restraunts pay only minimum wage to their employees. They are often over worked and very busy. They don't have the time to follow all the health codes. And now, in Florida at least, you have to have a permit to handle any kind of food. Waitresses, cooks etc... have to take a course and get a permit for these jobs. It does no good.

I've seen a waitress spit something (I dunno what) into a glass of tea before delivering it to the table next to us. A bit later, the lady at that table was complaining about something being in her glass of tea. Just totally gross. And it ain't gettin' any better!!

Take care,
Donna

YUCKITY YUCKY YUCK!... Ok.. I'm on a new diet, eat at home or trusted friends homes only! LOL! ;00

Okay. The only question left is: can I grow enough in my back yard to be self-sufficient?

On the other hand, if we never are exposed to things, we'll never build up an immunity to them. Donna, that waitress must have had some beef with that woman. Who knows? Maybe she deserved it.

Nah, no one deserves that.

Thanks brigidlily, I certainly agree that food handlers need to be scrupulously clean, but the paranoia about germs, created by the advertising agencies has really gotten out of hand! You won't find any anti-bacterial products in my home!

Everyone has staph living on their skin and it is harmless until it manages to get into the body via a cut or an abrasion.

My biggest beef is checking out at a grocery store and having a checker that is obviously ill with a cold or flu. That is why I always observe the checkers before I choose which line I will get into. If the bag person is sick, I always ask that someone else bag my food as well and ask for paper bags rather than plastic.

X

Yeah -- carry home flu along with that chicken soup! I beg people here at work not to come up when they're sick. One guy who was obviously dragging made coffee. He got the filter off that little stack of filters by BLOWING ON IT. I've brought my own coffee ever since. I mean, it does show dedication that you'd go to work when you're sick, but you'd serve the office better by not making everyone else there sick! Why don't people think?

Xeramtheum,

You are safer that way. Many antibacterial products contain triclosan, which mixes with the chlorine in the tap water and releases chloroform gas. There have been several incidents in the news around here, where a woman has passed out while doing the dishes, with an antibacterial dish soap. Regular soap does a perfectly fine job in handwashing. Heck, soap even works to get rid of aphids etc!

I'm mostly a vinegar and baking soda cleaning kinda girl. Anyone else use these? I even use straight vinegar on new weeds in full sun. Kills them pronto.

I use distilled white vinaegar for some cleaning tasks. Mostly we buy the enzyme and natural soap products. I'll buy a bottle of Everclear when I can get my hands on it. It's a great solvent and does a good job cleaning the computer mouse and fax lens. Can't imagine why anyone would want to drink the stuff.

Yes to the vinegar and baking soda here with no "antibacterial anything" in use either.
DH had his spleen removed and has to be careful on exposure. We work in the public and are amazed at how often sick folks will go to the Dr and then go shopping instead of taking their germs home where they belong.
I think those and the ones that go to work ill are looking for sympathy. Wish they'd look in the dictionary instead. : ))

They could go to work ill or out in public ill but wear a face mask out of courtesy, as they do in Japan.

re: "I think those and the ones that go to work ill are looking for sympathy"

Not necessarily. People who work on contract (IT, etc.) stand to LOSE their jobs if they are sick more than a day, or at the wrong time of year. When I am sick, I stay in my office and do conference calls instead of going to meetings. Not going to work is simply not an option.

greenjay,

I can understand that. I use to teach at the college... no way I could call in sick there. And before that, I had my own business... and it consisted of ME. I had no choice. But I always warned folks and took the proper medication to try and prevent coughing and such ... as to not spread the germs. On some of my contracts, I had an agreement that if I couldn't give 48 hours notice of not being there, I had to fork over a credit of $100 ... as they did to me... if they cancelled.

So, sometimes, going to work is not an option... but a definate requirement.

Donna

You bet! Self employed here ~ we don't work, we don't eat...

That is why the folks who take a day off because they are sick, go the the doctor and come by to shop don't do us any favors by patronizing us at that time! No sympathy here... sorry.

Yeah, if you're able to shop, you ain't that sick! Sick to me is being home in bed and really don't care about anything.

Donna

I use vinegar almost exclusively -- and find it cleans better than the chemical products as well as making me feel my granddaughter will be okay drinking the bathwater!

And do you know what triclosan is? It's AGENT ORANGE. Think about it.

Ouch! I knew I didn't like the sound of Triclosan. One of my colleagues had leukemia from Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam. She was an Army nurse during the war.

As a gardener, I only want to use products that are safe for the earth. Same goes for cleaning the house. I'd rather use the right cleaning tool and a little more elbow grease and know that my home is safe, meaning I don't have to worry about anyone, including pets absorbing toxins through the skin or inhaling them.

Check out these links that shows and interesting correlation between the development and use of organochlorines like DDT and polio cases. They have tracked this from 1870 through the 1990s. The correlation is amazing. Vineagar is looking better and better.

http://www.geocities.com/harpub/pol_all.htm
http://www.geocities.com/harpub/overview.htm
http://www.geocities.com/harpub/

A paste of baking soda and Dr. Bronner's soap (I use peppermint) will scrub your tub, etc., better than anything. And if you don't rinse it well, you don't have to be worrying about what might be eating away at your skin, or getting in your eye, or whatever. In fact, it's not a bad addition to bathwater! Compare it to the ones that warn you to use with "adequate ventilation"!

Thanks for the links, g_m!

Edited to mention, I've read that, because of PCB runoff in the northern seas, most polar bears are being born androgynous lately. I'll be sorry when they're no longer with us.

This message was edited Dec 18, 2006 2:47 PM

where did you read the bit about the polar bears? Do you have a link?

Norway's androgynous polar bears

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/136386.stm

Garden_mermaid: Have you ever tried using your EM for cleaning? I've heard it's very effective. I've also heard that it can be put in the gas tank of the car to improve gas mileage, though I'd want to learn a little more before I tried that.

Nataraj

Nataraj, I tried using the activated EM for cleaning the bathroom. In many ways it works like vinaegar, since the activated brew has a lot of acetic or lactic acids in it. You do have to get used to the fermented scent. There may be a special way of brewing it for cleaning purposes. The regular brew uses molasses, so it has a dark colour. It may be possible to ferment it with regular sugar for a clear mixture. The molasses is better for the garden since it has trace minerals. These would not be needed for cleaning. I do use the AEM to keep the drains clear. It has worked better than the commercial products. I also spray the tub and shower curtain with it to keep mould or mildew from growing. One of these days I'll order the advanced EM guidebook.

What is EM/AEM?

Maggie

EM is the abbreviation for Effective Microbes. AEM means Activated Effective Microbes.
You can buy the 'mother culture', then activate it by mixing with molasses & water and allowing it to ferment or buy ready to use products. I originally bought it to try in my garden and just bought the regular EM mother culture. I also have a bokashi composting bucket and have experimented with using both the bokashi bran and just AEM in the bokashi bucket. When I buried my last batch of bokashi in the garden bed, the earthworms literally stampeded across the top of the soil to get at it. Never knew they could move so quickly.

EM is a probiotic culture for the plants, but can also be used for humans and animals. The probiotic culture is used around the world for many, many applications, including wastewater treatment (ponds will gain clarity if EM is used in them). Some cities use it in their composting operations.
It has also been of tremedous help in disaster relief situations where flooding has occured. EM prevents the growth of hazardous moulds.

Here are a few links to a lot of information:
http://www.scdworld.com/shop/deliver.cfm?page=eminside
http://tinyurl.com/y24ans
http://tinyurl.com/y8395a
http://www.emamerica.com/data/environment/testimonials/
http://tinyurl.com/ym9gc8
http://tinyurl.com/yd7ds6
http://www.embokashinetworkusa.org/home.html

http://www.eminfo.info/getstarted1.html#What