[humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use

[Ginny Duff]

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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