The healthcare profession is known as the most noble and respected profession worldwide. Day to day interactions with highly infective processes and critical patients poses a serious threat to doctors and paramedical nurses alike. Whether it be back problems, exposure to blood borne pathogens, radioactive materials and lasers or dangerous bio hazardous waste, here are some tips that you should implement for your own safety in the healthcare profession:
1. Take Precautions to Avoid Blood Borne Diseases
Medical personnel come into daily contact with patients, whether it’s attaching I.V fluids, taking blood samples or body fluids for testing purposes, a host of diseases like HIV and hepatitis B and C can be transmitted via body fluid contact. In order to safeguard yourself, we recommend taking the necessary precautions such as wearing sterile gowns, latex gloves and face masks when interacting with these patients. In the event of any injuries or cuts on your hands and feet, always cover the wound with sterile bandages and avoid any such exposure as a breach in the skin can lead to easier spread.
2. Avoid Sharp Instrument Injuries
Everyday doctors and paramedical nurses are surrounded by a host of sharp instrumentations. Biopsy needles, sharp needles, scalpels and suture needles are just some of them. The healthcare staff should use these sharp instruments with precautions such as wearing gloves before using the instrument, avoid recapping of used syringes, using blunt edged scalpels for O.R procedures. Apart from this, the hospital management should implement a proper disposal system for used sharp objects to prevent the spread of accidental injuries and needle pricks.
3. Exercise Precautions Against Potentially Dangerous
Chemicals
The healthcare industry is filled with dangerous chemicals like mercury, bisphenol and triclosan which on repeated exposures, can cause life threatening diseases like tumors, asthma, reproductive diseases, and developmental disorders if a pregnant woman is exposed to them. Healthcare firms should provide proper training and guidelines on how to handle these dangerous chemicals on a day to day basis. The use of gloves and safety equipment should be encouraged when handling or transporting these chemicals. Furthermore, each drum of chemicals should be covered in thick linen and safety precautions and composition should be mentioned to avoid delays in treatment in the event of any injury.
4. Be Extra Wary of Excessive Lifting
Healthcare staff deputed in the O.R and E.R triage have to shift patients and transport heavy stretchers and lifesaving equipment on a daily basis. This can lead to musculoskeletal injuries and back problems. The staff should be encouraged to use personal safety techniques such as using lifts, pivot disks and slide boards which make patient shifting much easier. If these are not available, we recommend using slings and mastering proper lifting techniques for shifting patients to avoid any injuries.
For nurses and other medical workers who interact with medical data, use of medical DICOM viewer can aid in reading and viewing imaging data.
You can search for DICOM medical image viewer online and get the most reputable one installed on your system.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, exposures and situations are inevitable and are bound to happen. What we can do is to exercise basic precautions and safety to safeguard ourselves from a lifetime of regret and disease.
