[humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use

[Yvonne Garris]

I like the idea of having someone sew you covers for your cane. Maybe for
the tip you could put some kind of a rubber glove over it and secure it with
either tape or a rubber band.  I know they make finger coverings out of the
same rubber glove material, I think that would probably work for your tip.
You may also want to have a cane designated just for hospital use if
possible. I think that might at least reduce the chance of infection.

Hope that helps at least a little,

Yvonne

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
Shelton via humanser
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 1:48 AM
To: humanser at nfbnet.org
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: [humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use

Hi all,

My goal is to become a board-certified music therapist and work in a
pediatric hospital.  I recently visited a family member in the hospital who
was quite ill, and it made me think of some important considerations which
will follow me into my career.  Seeing this relative involved trips to the
MICU (Medical Intensive Care Unit) and the Hematology and Oncology floor.
In both cases I had to scrub up and wear a gown and gloves to go see the
person because what they had was contageous.

I did not take the cane back into ICU with me because we were supposed to
leave all unnecessary items out.  While the argument of whether or not a
cane is a necessary item is totally different, suffice it to say that with
everything going on I didn't argue with my parents and used sighted guide
with my brother while they held onto my cane outside the ICU.  A few days
later I saw the person again on the hematology and oncology floor, and did
bring my cane along.  This time I scrubbed up then washed again after
leaving, but realized then that I had never done anything with my cane and
potentially dragged outside germs in and exposed myself to ones in the room
on my way out.  Especially since I'll be working with children, and quite
possibly in isolated areas like the ICU, Preop, and Postop, I think the
clenliness of my cane is something I need to consider.

I already do wipe it down regularly when I'm working with kids or the
elderly, but in some situations such as in a hospital a Clorox wipe just
won't cut it.  The type of infection I was around is even antibiotic
resistant, and you never know what patients might have.  My mom used to be
an oral surgeon's assistant and she preaches to me all the time about taking
universal procausions.  They used AIDS as th example in their office and the
doc would tell them it wasn't the person who told you about a diagnosis you
had to worry about-it was the one who didn't, or didn't know they had
something communical to begin with.  So, that is why it's so important to
treat everyone as if they have AIDS or something else similarly contageous.

I'm raching out to everyone I can to puzzle this out, because it's likely my
professors just won't know what to do about it.  Most people have suggestd
putting some sort of covering over it.  One person suggested having someone
sew me cane covers out of the same material scrubs are made out of so it
could be washed and reused.  Another also suggested that, but acknowledged
something different would need to be figured out for the more intensive care
situations where the gowns are immediately thrown away rather than saved for
washing.  Someone else suggested keeping a few extra tips around so I could
swap those out, E.G to prevent tracking of things spilled on the floor or
general grime into rooms where it wouldn't be best to do so.  Someone else
suggested finding some way to put covers over the tips that would still
allow for sensitivity, while allowing me to change them more quickly.

I figured most of you probably don't need to venture deep into the belly of
a hospital much, but if you do or have ideas I would be interested in
hearing them.  -- Kaiti Shelton University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present Secretary, The
National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division 2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"

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