Saturday 17 March 2018

Sterile Documentation

I've done very little today. In fact I did absolutely nothing from 12:30 to 3:30 PM except to nap, doze, and think. It is a dangerous thing to do, as often in these states my mind begins to dwell on the negative. I let anger about my illness and bitterness about my life outcome take over my normal, happy self. I get resentful, particularly about my ex-wife, about having spent most of my life supporting my marriage and family, only to end up alone and in this situation.

It's pointless. I am where I am. The past is the past. Today is where I have to live.

Speaking of today, this morning a Licenced Practical Nurse accompanied my Health Care Aide. Accompanied is probably not the correct way to put it. The LPN couldn't come until 11:15 AM. The HCA arrived about 10 minutes after that. So I stayed in bed for almost an extra hour today. The LPN was there to teach the HCA about proper sterile procedures for doing my in/out catheters. My doctor is convinced that my repeated infections are due to non-sterile conditions with catheterization.

This does not include the bladder infections in the years gone by. They are most likely caused by lack of sterile conditions as well, mostly with the condom catheters. However those infections happened perhaps every three months or so. While not ideal, it is better than currently, where they happen one right after the other.

The arrival of the LPN did not necessarily mean the implementation of a sterile, or at least semi-sterile procedure. The agency refuses to provide staff with sterile gloves. If I want that level of clean, I have to pay for the gloves myself. I have already contacted Alberta Health along with the Health Minister regarding this cost, but don't hold your breath. Even "free" health care has its expenses.

Nor did the LPN have a clear, step by step procedure for doing a sterile in/out catheter process. It seems her ideas of sterile differ very greatly from mine, and from the HCA's too. So after completion of a rather haphazard process, I did what I do best. I documented the procedure using best practice information from Internet research along with "in use" process where it aligned or could be adapted to approximate best practice or sterile practice. It would be fair to say I have some expertise in this kind of thing.

It's not a perfect document. There is no surety that the agency will use this document or support this process. After all, I am at their mercy. Nonetheless I am a strong advocate for myself, especially around not dying from infections. If they don't follow this process, I am going to ask both my Health Care Nurse Coordinator from AHS and the Clinical Coordinator from CBI why, or rather, why not.

And I am really, really good at this kind of documentation. They should pay me for this stuff.

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