PROMPT: Freewrite/Brainstorm (No proof-read)
Step 1:
One thing that I came into this class wanting to learn about is nosocomial infections. I have been working in critical care for nearly 2 years now as a CNA2, and have been working in a hospital. One thing that we have to be careful about is any injuries/illness that can be linked to their time in the hospital wont be reimbursed, so the hospital has to pay for it. This is most often related to bed sores, pneumonia, C. diff, CAUTIs, VAPs, and other sepsis related illnesses. One thing that I never took into account with regards to infectious disease prevention and the immune system is the state of our microbiomes. I never really considered the fact that staying in the hospital can alter your microbiome, and can lead to complications, increased length of stay, and overall worsening of patient outcomes. It has been really interesting to learn about the microbiome and its impact on our health and how it can protect us from infection.
Step 2:
“staying in the hospital can alter your microbiome”
Step 3:
Staying in the hospital can alter your microbiome. Due to antibiotic treatment, nutrition deficiencies, exposure to pathogens by healthcare workers, etc., the microbiome you walk into a hospital with likely is drastically different than the one you will leave with. Currently, there are not much treatment options that are used commonly to counter this inevitable change. I think it would be really interesting to learn about techniques and methods utilized by specific hospitals/clinics/centers in other areas/countries where they have spent time studying the microbiome and how to prevent dysbiosis. Im sure some great research has been done, and some other facilities utilize cutting edge techniques, but the knowledge hasn’t spread throughout healthcare.
Step 4:
In a hospital you can become really focused on numbers, observable symptoms, and the visible state of the patient and completely disregard what you cant see. Its easy to disregard this part of human biology since there are other critical things in plain view. I think this is part of the reason why the microbiome is not a larger part of the care plan in patients, especially the ones who are in Critical Care settings. Infection is very prevalent in hospitals, its not a secret that many people succumb to nosocomial infections, and some of which can be fatal. There is an underutilized natural defense system we all have, its microscopic, but it still can provide a lot of protection. By ignoring this system, and additionally altering it, we cause dysbiosis and destroy a very valuable asset. I think I will look into the strategies employed by other facilities regarding protections of the integrity of microbiome, and write my paper on how effective they are, and the importance of factoring in the microbiome in patient care plans.
