A guide to navigating the risk of hospital acquired Covid - as well as how to manage overall risk of nosocomial infections and hospital derived complications.
Well said. It’s scary to be in a hospital at any time, let alone now that Covid exists.
Perhaps I missed it in your article (sorry if so, my current medical condition creates brain fog) but:
I might add that a bottle of hand mister spray, like the kind they sell at Trader Joe’s will help. They make them in lemon, lavender and grapefruit smell, and it evaporates quickly. It can be sprayed on all hospital trays, your hands after you touch anything, and they aren’t expensive at all.
Thank you! You’re right I didn’t include that mainly because my focus was on airborne precautions as most current studies indicate it transmits through air far more than surfaces. But that’s great advice and I’m glad you commented! I’m unfortunately terribly allergic to all sanitizer so it’s always a bit of a battle when I’m in there. Thankfully my mask helps blunt the allergic reaction when people use it.
Thank you so much for this post. In the event it encourages someone to try, I recently had surgery, an overnight hospital stay and a successful experience requesting masking. I spoke with my surgeon beforehand and on the day of, telling her it was important to me that I be masked before I left the operating suite and was wheeled back to my room. I run a small business and impressed upon her the negative financial fallout I’d experience from getting sick in addition to negative impact on my health. (Idk if this extra reason helped but I was willing to say anything to persuade people.) She agreed to help me and assured me masks were mandatory in the OR, though I saw them in baggy blues when I got there. I had the same conversation w my anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist the morning of. Everyone agreed. When I came to in the recovery room my mask was on and I kept it on until I left. I also used a Levoit air purifier in my room (thankfully, a single) and kept the door closed. I asked the nurses if they’d wear a mask. They agreed but wouldn’t have worn one if I hadn’t asked. Everyone was cooperative. My procedure took place in suburban Philadelphia, a city where a small minority of people never stopped masking and I’ve never seen anyone hassled about it. That said, almost no one in the hospital was wearing a mask.
Now that I think about it, I found myself in the ER twice over the past year -- once in Columbus, OH, and the other in Philly. No one was masking so I had to find the courage to ask over and over. To lend some weight to my request, I made up some bs excuse each time, but everyone did it and almost everyone was pleasant enough.
These are great recommendations and a thorough list. I wanted ro cover a topic like this, but I think you nailed it and I’ll be referring others to this post. Thank you!
Thank you for saying Dr Khan! I’ve spent a LOT of time in hospitals during the pandemic.
I hate that all the protection falls on the individual- and I sincerely hope in time we will see better infection control and recognition that Covid is airborne. Until then I hope my guide keeps people as safe as possible!
This has been one of my biggest fears since COVID hit. The one time I've gotten sick (which wasnt COVID) since 2020, I had massive anxiety worrying about even going to urgent care because I'd have to take my mask off to show them my throat and pretty much none of the nurses in urgent care wear masks. Thank you for the idea to donate masks when you can since keeping safe really is so so expensive. And most importantly, thank you for making me feel less anxiety about how I would deal with having to be in the hospital! Having all the information you gave really helps.
I’m glad it helped you! I was sick with many of the comorbids we see in Long Covid before the pandemic - so when the first long covid cases were being publicized I was like “ok I really need to avoid this thing.” I also figured that the pandemic would shine light on these conditions and we would have better treatments by now - joke’s on me!
But I do think that with some planning (and some luck) it can be avoided in hospital settings. Plus tons of amazing community orgs and mask blocs are doing incredible work getting masks and tests into the hands of people who need them.
I’m sorry - are you suggesting we simply shouldn’t bother trying to keep ourselves from getting another infection? Because death isn’t the only outcome. For people like me who are already chronically ill - a Covid infection can significantly alter my baseline. It could take what little independence and quality of life I have left. I try and avoid all hospital acquired infections since they’re incredibly hard on my body.
Hospitals (and care homes) are not safe places now for chronically I'll people. And I'm sorry you are more vulnerable to than say,I am,but the fault lies with the CIA enabled military research into enhanced biological weapons that produced COVID. They declared War on the population of the world back in 2020. I can't change anything,that's just how it is now.
None of this addresses the question of why people shouldn’t try and prevent infection or protect themselves. They can feel empowered to do so - which was the point of this guide. Vulnerable people shouldn’t just give up and say “oh well we have to die some day” - there ARE ways to drastically reduce your odds of infection.
Well said. It’s scary to be in a hospital at any time, let alone now that Covid exists.
Perhaps I missed it in your article (sorry if so, my current medical condition creates brain fog) but:
I might add that a bottle of hand mister spray, like the kind they sell at Trader Joe’s will help. They make them in lemon, lavender and grapefruit smell, and it evaporates quickly. It can be sprayed on all hospital trays, your hands after you touch anything, and they aren’t expensive at all.
If you want to drop your favourite brand in the comments - I’m sure others would appreciate it!
Trader Joe’s brand is wonderful. It’s only got water, organic glycerin and organic essential oil in it. None of the gunk.
Thank you! You’re right I didn’t include that mainly because my focus was on airborne precautions as most current studies indicate it transmits through air far more than surfaces. But that’s great advice and I’m glad you commented! I’m unfortunately terribly allergic to all sanitizer so it’s always a bit of a battle when I’m in there. Thankfully my mask helps blunt the allergic reaction when people use it.
Hi there!
I want to share this article with some healthcare workers I know, but they don't speak English. Is that okay if I translate it to Portuguese?
Absolutely! Thank you for asking and I hope it’s helpful!
Thank you so much for this post. In the event it encourages someone to try, I recently had surgery, an overnight hospital stay and a successful experience requesting masking. I spoke with my surgeon beforehand and on the day of, telling her it was important to me that I be masked before I left the operating suite and was wheeled back to my room. I run a small business and impressed upon her the negative financial fallout I’d experience from getting sick in addition to negative impact on my health. (Idk if this extra reason helped but I was willing to say anything to persuade people.) She agreed to help me and assured me masks were mandatory in the OR, though I saw them in baggy blues when I got there. I had the same conversation w my anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist the morning of. Everyone agreed. When I came to in the recovery room my mask was on and I kept it on until I left. I also used a Levoit air purifier in my room (thankfully, a single) and kept the door closed. I asked the nurses if they’d wear a mask. They agreed but wouldn’t have worn one if I hadn’t asked. Everyone was cooperative. My procedure took place in suburban Philadelphia, a city where a small minority of people never stopped masking and I’ve never seen anyone hassled about it. That said, almost no one in the hospital was wearing a mask.
Now that I think about it, I found myself in the ER twice over the past year -- once in Columbus, OH, and the other in Philly. No one was masking so I had to find the courage to ask over and over. To lend some weight to my request, I made up some bs excuse each time, but everyone did it and almost everyone was pleasant enough.
Thank you for sharing and I’m so glad you had a positive experience and that they listened to (and respected) your wishes!
These are great recommendations and a thorough list. I wanted ro cover a topic like this, but I think you nailed it and I’ll be referring others to this post. Thank you!
Thank you for saying Dr Khan! I’ve spent a LOT of time in hospitals during the pandemic.
I hate that all the protection falls on the individual- and I sincerely hope in time we will see better infection control and recognition that Covid is airborne. Until then I hope my guide keeps people as safe as possible!
This has been one of my biggest fears since COVID hit. The one time I've gotten sick (which wasnt COVID) since 2020, I had massive anxiety worrying about even going to urgent care because I'd have to take my mask off to show them my throat and pretty much none of the nurses in urgent care wear masks. Thank you for the idea to donate masks when you can since keeping safe really is so so expensive. And most importantly, thank you for making me feel less anxiety about how I would deal with having to be in the hospital! Having all the information you gave really helps.
I’m glad it helped you! I was sick with many of the comorbids we see in Long Covid before the pandemic - so when the first long covid cases were being publicized I was like “ok I really need to avoid this thing.” I also figured that the pandemic would shine light on these conditions and we would have better treatments by now - joke’s on me!
But I do think that with some planning (and some luck) it can be avoided in hospital settings. Plus tons of amazing community orgs and mask blocs are doing incredible work getting masks and tests into the hands of people who need them.
Thank you for this insightful material - extra caution and protection advice is well timed
Oh for God's Sake. And I mean God's Sake. Just accept we are all mortal and were all gonna die,sometime,of something.
I’m sorry - are you suggesting we simply shouldn’t bother trying to keep ourselves from getting another infection? Because death isn’t the only outcome. For people like me who are already chronically ill - a Covid infection can significantly alter my baseline. It could take what little independence and quality of life I have left. I try and avoid all hospital acquired infections since they’re incredibly hard on my body.
Hospitals (and care homes) are not safe places now for chronically I'll people. And I'm sorry you are more vulnerable to than say,I am,but the fault lies with the CIA enabled military research into enhanced biological weapons that produced COVID. They declared War on the population of the world back in 2020. I can't change anything,that's just how it is now.
None of this addresses the question of why people shouldn’t try and prevent infection or protect themselves. They can feel empowered to do so - which was the point of this guide. Vulnerable people shouldn’t just give up and say “oh well we have to die some day” - there ARE ways to drastically reduce your odds of infection.