Monday, January 15, 2007

Hospitals staff and their attitude

The mind numbing disturbance of hospitals, the painful revulsion that is felt when people think about spending time, being admitted to a hospital. The mind screams out “No”!!! “Why Me”. Aaron Swartz tells of the hate people feel as they go to hospitals. The fear of the winding corridors, poky rooms and being locked up with the sick to “get better??”

But is it really like that? In the last 3 weeks I have spent a lot of time in the hospital. I have traveled to four different wards in two different hospitals and seen two emergency hospital admission centers.

I have discovered in this three week there are classifications of people who come to a hospital. The first major classification division is
1. Those that come in because they are sick
2. Those that come there because they work there.
With in each of these there are further classifications of those people, why they are there and the attitude they are there with.

It is about the group of people called nurses and caregivers that has caught my fascination. In a large hospital there are hundreds of these nurses running around on rotational duty. They are on in the morning and then they are on again for the late shift the next day.

There duties include taking patients vital stats, taking blood, giving medication, changing beds, washing, bring water or biscuits, filling out reams of paper work and above all speaking kindly and encouraging each patient with hope.

It is amazing in the three weeks that I have been interacting with these nurses it seems that every one of them is such a wonderfully nice person. They always seem to be caring. They are willing to do almost anything that is allowed for the patients good. They smile and seem to genuinely have each patients comfort and well being at heart.

It astounded me that I could find so many people with such different personalities, dealing with a lot of pressure while being taken for granted and yet still be so charming.

Now I know that hospitals are horrible places to be, but I would love to say a HUGE HUGE thank you to all the wonderful nursing staff that give of their time and their love and make so many patients life so much easier. And most the time they do it with out appreciation.
If any one feels to give these selfless nurses and care givers a quick word of thank you, post your comment below.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Yeast infection in babies

A new baby is one of the most awe inspiring events that can ever happen. While watching those beautiful eyes we wonder why we have been so blessed to receive such a gift as the baby we are holding.

Unfortunately life can disrupt those wonderful moments with periods of sickness. Having a sick baby is one of the most frustrating and helpless feelings as we so want to make it better and we know that they just don’t understand.

One of the sicknesses that can afflict babies is thrush. Yeast occurs naturally in all babies mouths. It is when this yeast gets out of control that an overgrowth occurs and a yeast infection follows.

Most babies that experience a yeast infection are exposed to it during birth. While traveling down the birth canal it is possible to pass a yeast infection on to a new born baby. You may be experiencing a yeast infection with out even being aware of the fact.

This is not the only way in which a yeast infection can be passed between mother and child. Breast milk can also carry the infection across. Antibiotics are the primary reason for this in so far as antibiotics can kill off good bacteria in the milk which keep the yeast in control.

Because a yeast infection can be passed through milk it is possible that a c-section baby can develop a yeast infection because of antibiotics you or they may be taking. When a yeast infection does develop it is important to treat both mother and baby as it is easy for a yeast infection to linger when not treated completely and thereby re-infecting each other.

Labels: , , ,