[humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use
Kaiti Shelton
crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
Mon Aug 17 18:44:56 UTC 2015
I forgot that one! I have also considered having a cane, even two,
set aside for use in the hospitals.
On 8/17/15, Annely Rose via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm following this thread and it is very thought provoking. I am recalling
> that when my late husband was in the hospital with a staff infection in his
> nasal passages, as they called it, all of us had to wear protective gear,
> but the nurse brought in the medication cart and I'm not aware that anyone
> wiped it down afterward. also, there was furniture in the room and other
> equipment. I carried my cane in and no one said anything. Even a doctor
> came in and didn't have a gown on or any facial mask. go figure. Maybe
> this hospital wasn't as strict or should I say they were careless. And
> where did my husband get this infection? He was home with us 2 days before
> and a day in ICU before they diagnosed it and none of the family came down
> with it. The ICU staff didn't wear anything protective. Makes you wonder.
> And if you get sick, they say that there are staff germs everywhere, even on
> our skin. Our canes go everywhere with us and who knows what the
> tips come in contact with on a daily basis. I try to wipe mine clean, but
> many times forget. When I fold it up, I never put it in my purse and try
> not to touch it either on my skin or on my clothes. And, of course, I never
> put it on a table anywhere. If I set it on a chair in a restaurant, I'll
> leave the tip hanging over the edge.
>
> Annely
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Mon, 8/17/15, Michael Abell via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Subject: Re: [humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use
> To: "'Human Services Division Mailing List'" <humanser at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Michael Abell" <bigdog4744 at gmail.com>
> Date: Monday, August 17, 2015, 12:18 PM
>
> Hello,
> These are all fantastic and thought
> provoking answers! I am taken by
> the new
> frontiers that we are blazing through.
> I have special canes for occasions. What
> about a cane that would be
> used for just
> such purposes. You could remove any porous material
> (grips,
> tips . and elastic) even going to a
> solid cane. This would make it easy to
> sanitize and you could limit its use for these
> purposes.
> J D brings up very salient
> points about instruments and devices. I
> would ask the hospital staff what they do with
> their devices. I am also
> waiting to hear
> what our dear friend Dr. Chapel has to say on this
> subject!
> Mary?
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael "Big Dog" Abell
>
> Helping individuals to find
> their eyes in the dark.
> (480) 369-0805
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Ginny Duff
> via humanser
> Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 9:06 AM
> To: humanser at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Ginny Duff
> Subject: Re:
> [humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital
> use
>
> I work in a hospital
> although being in psychiatry, I rarely have to worry
> about this issue. I agree that the
> cane is essential. Its one thing to
> leave it outside the room when you are just
> visiting but it would be a
> completely
> different matter if you were working there.
>
> I'd be just as concerned
> about the tip and the handle. If you touch
> something with your gloves then you have
> transferred anything contaminated
> to the
> handle and then once you take the gloves off your hands are
> in direct
> contact with the
> handle. Of course when you fold the cane up you
> then
> touch the whole thing.
>
> You could contact the head of
> infection control and let them mull that over.
>
>
> What to do
> with the cane would be analogous to what staff do with a
> walker
> or medical equipment that is taken
> out of the room later. They must wipe
> that equipment down with something that would
> work on your cane. Alcohol
> swabs are a
> bit too small.
>
> Ginny
>
>
>
> Dr. V. Duff
> Clinical Director,
> West End ACT Team,
> St. Joseph's Heatlh
> Centre , Toronto
> Staff Psychiatrist, Complex
> Mental Illness, CAMH Lecturer, University of
> Toronto
> Tel: 416.530.6000, ext 3101
> FAX: 416.530.6363
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Aug 17, 2015, at 11:43
> AM, JD Townsend via humanser
> <humanser at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hello Kaiti & All:
> >
> > Interesting
> question. I do work in a hospital and precautions are
> > always an issue.
> >
> > My questions are:
> > Do
> other staff wear street shoes or cover them with booties?
> > Do other staff wear full body coverings or
> are pants exposed?
> >
> > Alcohol wipes are always present in
> hospitals. A clean wipe of my
> > white
> cane would provide much better protection than the exposure
> to
> > my shoes or pants and much better
> protection than nursing clipboards or
> exposed hair.
> >
> > According to my best knowledge, your white
> cane is considered a
> > prosthesis, like
> a prostetic leg and as such there ought be no problem
> > if it is kept as clean as one of those
> devices.
> >
> > If shoe
> booties are called for, just use one for your cane tip.
> >
> > I would be more
> concerned about your music insterments - players and
> > the like, and your cell 'phone.
> >
> >
> > JD Townsend LCSW
> >
> Helping the light dependent to see.
> >
> Daytona Beach, Earth, Sol System
> >
> >
> >
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--
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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