PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

This morning I woke up only to find out there is yet again another variant of the COVID-19 virus. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore, should it?

Anyways, I went about my day per usual. 

At the hospital, it was the same old, same old. My doctor and I reviewed the patient files separately, then we discussed the patients with the Professor and went to see the patients together. 

We reached the last patient’s room and got dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE).

All dressed up in PPE, ready to enter the patient's room.

Sometimes during hospitalisation, patients come in contact with organisms that cause infection. Infections that occur while in the hospital are known as nosocomial infections. By definition, a nosocomial infection occurs within 48 hours of hospitalisation and was not present on admission. Organisms that cause nosocomial infections are referred to as ‘superbugs’. A superbug is called such because it is difficult to kill them with the existing drug treatments.

One of the most common culprits of nosocomial infections is MRSA, which stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. For a sick patient suffering from another disease and immunocompromised, their body finds it extremely difficult to fight off the bacteria. Leading to sepsis and possibly even death. These patients require extended hospital stays to get the infection under control. 

To protect these patients, once a superbug is identified, the patient is placed in isolation. Doctors and nurses must take extra hygienic precautions, which includes wearing PPE. It must be put on before entering the room and removed and placed in a bin inside the room before exiting.

In the case of this last patient, they are severely immunocompromised, and because of this, we want to take every precaution to reduce their chance of becoming septic.

After the ward round, we sat in the doctor’s office to write notes. My doctor worked on discharge summaries, and I worked on today’s notes. Once the notes were complete, the day was over, and it was time to head home.