(photo business-opportunities.biz)

A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running.

-Groucho Marx

Over the years I’ve heard people express their dislike of hospitals. It usually goes something like this: “I hate hospitals” followed by a continuum of reasons ranging from detailed personal horror stories; to vague fears and phobias about the smells, sights, and sounds.

My standard reply (intended to amuse and build rapport) was: “I don’t like um’ either—and I have to work in one!” There was some truth to this statement. The system has its Darwinian pecking order and hierarchy-cast systems which would rival any Asia-Minor country; and at times are demoralizing to work under. The bureaucratic entanglements can also get in the way of the work.

I know too, the hospital can be an anxiety producing place for visitors with white-coated authority figures speaking the “privileged code” (medical terminology) and all the rigid rules and regulations one must adhere to as a guest. Not to mention the general disorienting lay outs with less than intuitive wayfinding.

As an institution the origins are thought to be as early as 4000 BC when religious deities were associated with healing. The sick would be admitted to temples as healers would wait for guidance from the gods (we still do that). And in Rome around 100 BC, the established hospitals (valetudinaria) for treating sick or injured soldiers gained status because they were seen as essential to the integrity of Rome’s defense.

It was in the eighteenth century that the modern secular hospital appeared serving only medical needs and staffed with physicians and nurses. Which brings us to today… where we continue to gather the sick in the same temple (hospital), give them multiple doses of antibiotics, and wash everything down with super-disinfectants. See any problems with this scenario?

This equation can lead to what is known as Nosocomial (Greek: nosos = disease, komeo = to take care of), that is, infections you get from being in the hospital.

Hospital-acquired Infection Factors
-Co-morbidities (sicker people with multiple disease processes)
-Immune compromised patients
-Poor hand washing of staff
-Over-use of antibiotics
-Medical treatments that bypass the body’s natural protective barriers

Known Pathogens
Staphylococcus aureus
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Acinetobacter baumannii
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
Clostridium difficile
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus
Legionella

Diseases Caused
Urinary tract infection
Tuberculosis
Hospital-acquired pneumonia
Gastroenteritis
Ventilator associated pneumonia
(all have the potential to cause death)

To counter some of this, the clinical setting is shifting and in the near future much of the care will be given in the home with the help of emerging technologies. This is important because I’ve often told patients throughout the years the faster you get home the less you will be exposed to hospital-acquired infections. One of the strongest arguments for aging in place.

Having said all this, not to scare you further or burden you with insight, but to emphasize that for all its ills the hospital is a very human place where healing and wonderful things happen daily. Many private victories and miracles go untold by caring staff; I’ve been privildged to witness countless examples.

Wonderful things
One night I was taking care of a woman admitted to the ICU after an extensive surgery for cancer. She was a lovely optmistic soul who wrote a weekly column for a senior newspaper and was a gerontologist. We had porfessional interests in aging and much in common. She had written several books and sent her husband Tom out to the car for a copy of her latest to give to me.

The next day Tom relayed a story. Taking a break from his bedside vigil, he strolled over to the StarBucks across the street from the hospital for a cup of joe.
He sat down to drink his coffee consumed with thoughts of his wife; noticing a newspaper lying on the table next to him, Tom asked the man if he could borrow it. They struck up a conversation and Tom told the man about his sick wife.

The generous man offered not only the paper, but kind words suggesting he be sure to take care of himself. He then mentioned a book that helped him get through caring for a sick family member.
The book as the very one Tom’s wife had written…Coincidence?…Maybe…

2 Things to get from this entry:
1) In the hospital don’t let hands or equipment near you unless they’ve been WASHED!
2) Hospitals harbor more than germs—healings & wonders occur too.

Reference
Piercey, W. Douglas & Scarborough, Harold (2008). hospital. Encyclopedia Britannica.