How Safe Are You?

Nan Coronavirus, Health, , , , ,

healthcareworker

Unfortunately, I had to make a second trip to the hospital this past week — a reoccurrence (sort of) of the problem I dealt with back in June. This time there were signs of infection so the recoup time has been a bit longer. Nevertheless, the old body is slowly bouncing back and I should be back to full-tilt very soon.

Of course then I will –once AGAIN!– have to deal with the financial pains. 😖

Anyway, the message of this post is not about me, but rather something I wonder how many others have thought about.

As has been covered ad nauseum in the news, as well as on the internet, many refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated against COVID-19. OK. I’m not going to rehash the pros and cons … or offer my input on the degree of stupidity involved.

Rather, I’d like to comment on something that I don’t think many have considered. I know I didn’t.

It’s been pointed out that many healthcare providers –including hospital workers– have been on the “Anti” bandwagon. Yes, they’re required to wear masks during their working hours, but as a hospital inpatient, how does one know if the people who are tending to your needs have taken that extra precautionary step and been vaccinated? In other words, are you truly safe as they push needles, take readings, help you down the hallway to the “loo,” etc? 

I’m fully vaccinated and I do have trust in the viability of this action. However, in a hospital situation with “Anti” folks looking after you — and where one’s overall health is/may be compromised — do the chances of a breakthrough infection increase? Certainly, the hospital environment is believed to be comparatively “risk free,” but considering it is the people who are tending to your needs, how safe are you … really?

45 thoughts on “How Safe Are You?”

  1. One wonders, Nan. Here in our province health care providers/aged care homes have been mandated to get both vaccines. I think the deadline is coming up, in fact. They will be placed on unpaid leave if they haven’t got both by that date. I have heard that someone we know (an RN) – who works at the local Aged Care facility – is pregnant has not had her shots. * shake head

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    • Apparently, an Oregon mandate went into effect yesterday (10/18/21) that healthcare workers must be vaccinated or provide documentation of medical or religious exception. (I don’t think I need to add my comments to that second listed exception.) However, as many of us know, this is not the case in many U.S. states.

      The fact that these people are so SELFISH just boggles my mind. Oh sure. They have an inordinate number of “reasons” why they should not be “forced” to be vaccinated … but for the most part, it all boils down to one thing:

      ME! ME! ME! MY “liberty” is more important that YOUR health.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

  2. Wow. Didn’t know this. Hospitals truly should mandate that ALL of their employees be vaccinated. Those who choose not to can look elsewhere for work. Period. It’s time to stop coddling these snowflake, whining, mewling, crying, “what about MY rights” babies who refuse to be concerned about those around them–especially if they’re hospital workers. My right as a paying patient to be safe outweighs the rights of these whining, mewling, childish, spoiled-rotten, coddled infants. I was in the hospital myself in September and am glad to say all the healthcare folks I came into contact with were, or claimed to be, vaccinated. Ah, America! Land of mewling, whining, self-righteous, right-wing snowflake babies! WAAAAA!! WAAAA!!

    Liked by 9 people

    Reply

    • Believe me, Inspired. They are here as well. In fact, in our area the vaccination rate (according to our daughter-in-law, a Public Health nurse on the Covid team) is only 50% in a province with a 76% rate overall with two shots. That is depressing. The thing we have going for us, though, is that we have very low population density. Being in the boonies has its perks. 🙂

      I don’t know if it’s happening there but here, since the inception of the Covid Health Record (which some people refer to as ‘passports’) the Premier and the Chief Medical Officer remind people to be kind to servers at every news conference. Just yesterday, a 7-year-old was killed when a log rolled off a pile — he was out for a walk with his mother on a logging road. Today I heard the announcer on CBC, when reporting this story, say “Please be kind to the family”. Some need to be reminded to be CIVIL?? What have we become? Is this all since the advent of social media? We have to remind grown-ass adults to be KIND in this tragic situation?? I mean, really??

      Liked by 7 people

      Reply

      • Not sure which province you live in, Carmen, but I live in the heart of Far Northern (I only care about ME!) Alberta, where the vaxx rate, forget full vaxx rate, is under 20%. I and my patner go out of the house as little as is humanly possible right now. The chances we will run into another vaxxed person is 1 in 5, or 4 in 5 that the person near us is not vaxxed!
        Being senior citizens, but not over 70, we cannot even get the booster shot yet. Well, I’m 71, actually, but what is the use of the booster if my partner cannot get one? Social avoidance is our best policy! And you know what? We kinda like it like that. Who wants to consort with fools!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        • We’re in Nova Scotia, rawgod, and I feel for you and your partner . . . I know what you mean about social avoidance. You can probably tell my husband is an introvert; he enjoyed the lockdown! ;).

          Liked by 1 person

        • Ahhh, Nova Scotiabank is such beautiful country. Gotta love all the twisted and turned roads after growing uo in the prairies where the roads are straight for hundreds of miles. And the Bay of Fundy, what an incredible tide. I know you probably take these things for granted, they are just everyday occurrences, but to a prairie boy you live in an almost-paradise. But you can keep your hurricanes, those I did not like.
          Does the balloon festival still happen, or is that dead from Covid?

          Like

  3. This is a legit concern Nan. I recently found out that my sister-in-law, who has down syndrome and is in a group home, got Covid because the staff at the home were not vaccinated. How in the hell can that not be a requirement to work in a healthcare setting such as that? I just do not understand it. The state is Ohio, however, and clearly they do not have a mandate in place-at least not yet. 19 months into this pandemic, and we’re still dealing with these idiots. Unbelievable.
    Btw, please get well Nan! Hope everything works out for you

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  5. More and more hospitals are requiring all their employees to be vaccinated or lose their jobs. I’m not sure how far the red states lag behind on this, but they have a strong incentive — legal liability. If patients going to the hospital for other reasons start getting covid-19 because of unvaccinated employees, they could sue. Hospitals and doctors are very conscious of liability issues.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  6. Seven day rolling average of new cases in my area: just slightly over 10 per day and falling. Population served ~500,000. Just around 85% vaxed and reasonable to expect over 90% when kids 5 – 12 can get their shots. Hospitalizations yesterday: 2. Today pm (so far) none. All staff of hospital and LTC facilities must be fully vaccinated by Oct 1 or let go. Tough but widely supported. All services fully open with the exception of dining at 50%. Mask mandates still in effect. All surgeries and treatments being resumed.

    Compare and contrast with your area.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  7. Since you pay for the treatment in house you should be expected to come out of a hospital without one thing being fixed, but getting a life threatening infection instead, At the first sign of a hospital being sued, the very concerned Insurance companies will be ensuring no unvaccinated staff get anywhere near you. Not out of concern for patients obviously, but for their profits.
    Hope you’re soon back to normal Nan.
    Hugs Galore

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. Hello Nan. You are correct in what the healthcare provider / health care giver is doing in their is going to effect your time in the hospital and your recovery. For example when I was in the ICU we had to deal with a country wide problem of patients getting bed sores from not being turned enough. Put pressure on any spot on your skin, especially on a boney area and it will develop into a sore that will eat into the flesh right to the bone. The body of a sick person is not able to fight these sores off and they become deep abscesses. Medicare tried different ways to fight this as it was happening not only in hospitals but also care homes. So they instituted a rule saying that if a patient developed a pressure sore in the care facility then Medicare wouldn’t pay for treatment but the facility had to treat the issue. Needless to say that got the attention of every healthcare facility. In our ICU’s we developed programs to make sure there was no pressure sores. We had a complete body check to find and document every blemish not just by the care nurse but by a second nurse / CNNA as well. A turn team was established along with procedures to make sure each patient was turned and repositioned with in a two hour window. There was other things, but the point is money talked. On what people do in their own time just as in other industries does effect their job performance, if a person is ill or hung over from drinking / intoxicants they do not offer best care. For me a diabetic I had to watch my blood sugar as it could effect the level of care I gave patients or effect my understanding of their needs / readings.

    In your case of vaccinations all our people were required to be vaccinated for the stuff up to then, and recently even the anti-flu vaccine people had to get the vaccine. It was a job requirement to work treating ill people. I knew anti-vaccine nurses I otherwise respected who just couldn’t be convinced vaccines were good but refused to give up their high paying jobs and lifestyles to remain unvaxxed. The reason the hospital I was in required it and could enforce it is the patients bill of rights. It is both Federal and State so some rights differed and again if a patients rights are violated then the government wont pay, the insurance companies wont pay, and the hospital not only eats the costs but the patient can sue. Here is the Florda version. https://www.orlandoortho.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Florida-Patient-Rights.pdf But you are correct you do have the right to ask the vaccine status of your care givers and you can set the conditions that your care givers have to follow if it is with the code of rights, and vaccines seem to be. Also most people do not realize that you can “fire” a medical care giver at any time. Have a nurse you dislike you can fire them, and they cannot enter your room unless a medical emergency. You don’t feel you are getting the right treatment you can demand different doctors or providers. In my ICU’s the founder of the company that provided the ICU coverage was also a highly fervent Catholic anti LGBTQ+ religious person who tried to hire people like him. Only a couple were. But it did cause problems as anyone who read my old blog may remember. That right had to be used and enforced by the staff because of the bigotry of those providers. Several times I had to join nurses in investigations with legal due to the doctors acting on their religious convictions rather than patient / family wishes and trying to evangelize to patients.

    Nan regardless of everything else I do worry about you and I am glad you got treatment and are felling positive about your recovery. I know I cannot be alone in hoping you will keep us up to date on your condition including how you are doing emotionally / mentally. As you can see if you did not already know you are an important person to a lot of people in the internet community. Best wishes and warm virtual hugs.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  10. The Hospital is the most unsafe place you can go. It’s always been that way. However when we are sick we often have to go to the hospital. There is a federal mandate that all medical personnel must be vaccinated. Why they would resist this having attended patients dying on ventilator’s is beyond logic. The GOP governors are fighting mandates of vaccination and masks. We will not get back to a normal living situation until and if these misguided people stop their nonsense. They don’t want to recognize that getting COVID is not just about them.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  11. Nan, the fully vaccinated can carry and transmit the Covid-19 virus just as well as the unvaccinated. This vaccine will only prevent you from becoming very ill, in case of contagion.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Vaccinated staff reduce by about 100 times the risk of a vaccinated patient becoming infected. Yes, a vaccinated person can become a carrier but from whom did he or she get infected? The chances are about 100 times GREATER if staff are UNvaccinated. Why increase the risk to vulnerable patients unnecessarily?

      By insisting all staff be vaccinated, the hospital is doing its due diligence to make it safER for a patient to come in and not come into contact with an infected person. It’s so simple a concept that it takes effort and intention to create a doubt narrative regarding the crystal clear benefits of public vaccination. Holding on to skepticism against mass vaccination in the face of such overwhelming evidence of risk reduction is no longer legitimate skepticism; it is anti-vax activism pretending to be skepticism. The latest term for selling this doubt narrative by raising never-ending questions pretending there is cause for doubt that can be dispelled if only people would provide more data – a never-ending tactic used forever by other denialists – is called sea lioning.

      Liked by 7 people

      Reply

  12. Health care staff in Alberta now have until sometime mid-November to get double-vaxxed. So we cannot get sick until then because if we do, we have no idea of the status of the person working with us. That is still one month away . Why the wait?
    Something to do with our elected officials? Most of those conservative fools are against vaccines. Yup, I really believe them when they say they care about their constituents! All they really care about is getting paid to not do their jobs!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  14. Please do return to “full-tilt very soon.” Your inquiry is very well taken. As you might already know here in Kerr County, Texas, in August 2021 my sister and I could NOT get a needed doctor’s appointment for our aging, elderly Mom any sooner than October 26th! Unless we traveled 2–2.5 hours to either San Antonio or Austin. But that would’ve defeated the purpose of her moving to Kerrville and the plethora of healthcare providers right here for the duration of her life/stay. Everything is (was?) prior to COVID-19, right here for her.

    Not anymore. Medical staff, healthcare workers, M.D.s, etc, are still all extremely overworked, overtaxed mentally & emotionally, and overrun with non-emergency treatments & appointments that were postponed, backlogged. The ripple-effect of COVID on this nation has for all intents and purposes surpassed the devastation of the American Civil War, not just in deaths (750,000+), but economically and occupationally as well. 😔

    The previous federal Administration should (will?) go down in history as THE WORST handling, preparation for, and disunity/disorganization (left to individual states!) by an Administration in all of U.S. history. Period, bar-none! It was unequivocally a ‘Biological War’ and had to be addressed that way! So much of all degrees of devastation could’ve been lessened greatly had sounder, more reasonable, competent leadership been in place across the entire country!

    Do take good care Madame. ❤️

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      • Hello Dwain. The most infuriating aspect is that it did not have to be this way. I just watched a video explaining the difference between Australia and Texas. Texas has more deaths in one day from Covid right now than Australia did the entire pandemic. Of course, Ted Cancun Cruz attacked them for their strong vaccine mandates. This is something we need to make sure future voters understand. These deaths, this struggle of healthcare providers, the over whelming deaths, none of it needed to be this way. As always best wishes. Hugs

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

    • You sum it up quite well. The “selfish ones” are exactly that. They have NO CONCERN related to the many facets and effects their personal choice to remain unvaccinated has upon others. As I’ve said in another comment … it’s ME! ME! ME!

      IMO, much of this is simply herd mentality. “Well, my friend told me that s/he had read/heard that the vaccine was BAD-BAD-BAD! And, well, I trust her/his opinion.”

      So sorry you’re having to endure such an (unnecessary) situation with your mom. As for me, recovery has had a few bumps this time around, but overall, I’m doing OK.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  15. I’ve been tempted to write about this very topic myself, namely that I strongly support vaccine mandates for healthcare all workers and that those who are not vaccinated should be suspended without pay. During a pandemic there really is no place in healthcare for workers who refuse to get vaccinated and protect those who they are supposed to be helping.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Fortunately, there are state leaders that recognize this and have taken the necessary steps. However, as most of us know, there are other leaders who have put POLITICS ahead of the wellbeing of their constituents.

      It’s one thing that people are “allowed” to make their own choices (many of which I disagree with) related to the virus, but when they are subject to mandates against the vaccines, well, ‘nuf said.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  17. Little late here, but great comments. I’m in Florida land of the crazies and between us and Texas, the worst governor of all. Plenty of anti vaxers, trump cultists etc. here.

    But I’m wondering if there isn’t a bigger picture here. I read an article the other day about a new philosophy called longtermism. I believe it was by the online site Aeon. Anyway..basically the very wealthy and those that view all this in the long long term, do not care who or how many die from Covid or climate change, murder, guns, other diseases, military actions etc. it’s about preserving the human species for the long term even if it becomes a low number. The wealthy will manage( they are buying up land along waterways etc and in foreign countries like New Zealand) and some of the prepper types and those that live off the grid etc. and the much longer term views include the future of living on Mars or just in space…the goal is to preserve the human species.

    It doesn’t seem to be involved in politics at all…perhaps a bit of eugenics though…Lead in to the article said it was dangerous and not talked about in the media..
    I’m not saying yeah or nay, I just found it interesting and not the stuff we see day in and day out about stupid people and how this is all going to end up in the near future. This was all about the far future..

    I did not realize you had been ill and I so hope you are feeling much better and do not have to return to the hospital at all!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I suppose that’s one way of looking at things …

      Of course it always boils down to the ultimate control of the “wealthy.” We hate it. We deny it. We fight against it as much as we can. BUT …

      Thanks for the link. I’m definitely going to give it a look-see. (BTW, you must do a LOT of reading. You often mention various articles you’ve come across that are off the usual news beat.)

      Thank you for your well wishes! I’m feeling better day-by-day. It’s been a bit slower recovery this time and some residual effects that I will be discussing tomorrow with my healthcare provider. But overall, I’m good.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      • I have always been a curious person and subscribe to various newsletters and a few blogs. Plus I. So sick of trump and all his cult and trying to figure out why some people are unbelievably willfully ignorant, that I look for different viewpoints that are not mainstream as to why…and we think it’s just greed and power by politicians and big business, but again, I look for different view and I certainly don’t mean right wing views..

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

Don't Be Shy -- Tell Us What You Think!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.