Mr. Gawande starts his literature on washing hands. He introduces two friends a microbiologist and an infectious disease specialist. Both work hard and diligently against the spread of diseases just like Semmelweis who is mentioned in the chapter. Something I learned, that not many realize, is that each year two million people acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Mainly because the clinicians only wash their hands one-third to one-half as many times as they should. Semmelweis, mentioned earlier, concluded in 1847 that doctors themselves were to blame for childbed fever, which was the leading cause of maternal death in childbirth. The best solutions are apparently the sanitizing gels that have only recently caught on in the U.S. Then there was an initiative to make the sanitizing easier for all. The engineer Perreiah came up with solutions that gave the staff more time which was revolutionary in itself but the format worked only under his supervision. After he left it all went down the drain, so, Lloyd a surgeon who had helped Perreiah decided to do more research and was excited when he encountered the positive deviance idea, the idea of building on people’s capabilities instead of trying to change them. The idea worked and even got funding for ten more hospitals across the country. At the end of the chapter Dr.Gawande ponders upon the idea of how many he has infected because of his lack of cleansing.…
This book follows the life of Henrietta Lacks and her family right before and after her death through the eyes of a curious science student/reporter. We are told about her lifestyle, giving us background on how she has lived her life leading up to her death. It is revealed that she has been forced to visit the doctor many times due to various diseases and infections obtained from her non-loyal husband Day. After she gives birth to her last child, she begins to feel serious pains in the lower abdominal area of her body, and goes to Johns Hopkins University Hospital for a visit as a last resort to identifying what is wrong with her and helping her recover. The reason for this being last resort rather than a priority in her decision-making for where to get treatment is because of two reasons: money and the color of her skin. It would cost much more to receive treatment at a hospital such as Johns Hopkins, and most hospitals generally did not treat black people as they treated white people. So it is obvious as to why this choice was a last resort. She did indeed receive treatment because, luckily for her, this was one of the few hospitals that actually treated black people like white people. She was not…
Compared to today’s standards, medicine in the Civil War was in the dark ages and barbaric as the stethoscope was not discovered until 1838. Most colleges taught only one yearly standard of lectures. Sitting through the same set of lectures twice in two years would result in graduation, and the ability to practice medicine. Not much was known about battle wounds, antiseptics, and sanitation since medical thinking was centered on the bowels and bladder during the 1800’s. The number of deaths in the Civil War totaled 624,571, due in part to the lack of sanitation knowledge and “no universally recognized professional standards for doctors,” existed. More deaths were caused from infections and disease accounting for two out of three deaths by the end of the war. In the 19th century, much of the medical…
The diets of soldiers were malnourishing, which did nothing to help the immune systems of the worn down soldiers. The use of sterile dressings, antiseptic surgery, or even sanitation and hygiene was unheard of. A capable surgeon could perform an amputation in approximately ten minutes. The circumstances of these procedures were dangerous and unsanitary. The surgeons operated in coats stained with pus and blood while using bloody knives as scalpels and even fingers as probes. The lack of water, as well as time, meant there was no washing of the hands or instruments. The desperate times caused doctors to utilize houses, churches, schools, and even barns as surgery rooms.(Goellnitz.) Although doctors did everything they knew how to do, the medical practices just weren’t sufficient for the…
Several early hospitals were unsanitary and were a breeding ground for diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and typhoid. Doctors possessed a primitive knowledge of antiseptic and sterilization; it was exceedingly rare for them to be seen cleaning their tools. This practice often led to infectious wounds, which turned gangrenous. When a wound was gangrenous, as it often was, or a soldier’s limb needed to be saved, physicians turned to amputation, which was a quick and efficient treatment in the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, chloroform was equipped as a form of anesthesia, and surgeons were known to complete operations in ten minutes, allotting them more time to treat other patients. (Paul, para. 7). All of these early forms of battlefield medicine have helped to shape the medical community in one way or another. Without the rudimentary medical practices displayed above, modern medicine could not have developed into what it is…
Anesthesia. Blood. Scalpels. Needles. These sights have always been all too familiar to doctors and their aids. However, the familiarity of these things was, to Abneiro, a sign of his woebegone past. The origin of Abneiro’s suffering was all too grounded in modernity. It was a measly 2 years ago when Abneiro had his fateful first encounter with his new allies.…
Key health issues at the time were typhus, cholera, yellow fever, and wounded soldiers from the Crimean war. Perspectives and goals of community and public health nursing were that all nurses were trained using a nursing education model. This would improve care, and patient outcomes. Nurse’s goals were focused on disease prevention and health promotion rather than just treating the sick. Visiting nursing associations were established. Public health emphasized on meeting urban health care needs and caring for the needy (Stanley & Lancaster, 2012, p.25). A few groups of Roman Catholic and protestant women cared for the needy and visiting nursing services began to be established, caring for the ill and the needy.…
The guards walked out of the infirmary and stood outside the door after the physician had ordered them to keep the princess and her friend out of his way. Morgana and Amora sat against the stone wall beside the elven guards waiting for the physician to emerge and tell them what was wrong with Benjamin. An hour later the elderly physician walked out of the infirmary and over to Amora so he could ask her a couple of questions.“Amora your friend has stopped coughing up blood for now, but before I can give him any medication I have to figure out what plagues the boy.” “To do so I must ask you a couple of questions tell me what were you doing when the boy first started coughing up blood,” the physician asked. “We were exploring a subterranean chamber where Benjamin accidentally cut his finger on a stone dagger that forced all of his blood to leave his body,” Morgana replied. “Do you still have the dagger that the boy cut his finger on?” Morgana handed the physician the dagger and…
Hello class. I’m writing my essay on the rise of Minuet Clinic VS Hospitals (and other similar immediate facilities). When it comes to the minuet clinics, the title speaks for itself. Reassuring the persons in of desperate concern can look forward to a fast, but yet, accurate cure for minor illness.…
Although there have been great medical discoveries made over the last two centuries in American medicine, the cost of these discoveries has been paid by the lives of individuals who were or deceived into partaking in these experiments. As a result, centuries later, there is still concern as to whether or not physicians are to be trusted to ethically perform their duties on patients. We owe so much of what has been established in the field of medicine to the slaves in America. Their pain and suffering paved the road to medical advancements, and their sacrifices need to be recognized as well as praised.…
I was on my third day of residential care placement; the staff had just started to take turns for their morning tea break so I took the time to catch up on my case study patient’s medical history in the nurses’ station. Within a few minutes the Manager of the rest home ran in to gather the blood pressure machine and bandages. She informed another student nurse and myself to “take these to Max’s (pseudonym) room NOW, while I call an ambulance”.…
The disruption that this acute illness has caused for the patient, family members, and clinical microsystem…
When people think of the Crimean War they tend to automatically think of soldiers, weapons, and fighting. Although they played a huge part in the war, they were not alone. Florence Nightingale was a major asset to the war. She, along with dozens of other trained nurses, tended to the wounded soldiers and helped to rehabilitate them back to health. It was during this time that she noticed a correlation between the patients who died and their environmental conditions (cite #1).…
I started my day in the emergency department (ED) by meeting the staff. One charge registered nurse (RN), five staff RN’s, four paramedics, one patient care technician, and one doctor. Jennifer Thomas was also in the ED today and informed me that to get the best experience I should invite myself into the rooms as the patients arrive.…
Until 1870’s, nursing care in the United States was provided by concerned individuals- usually- women- who applied their practical knowledge of healing to the sick and injured people. Licensed Practical Nurses played a vital role in the treatment and care of thousands of soldiers…