Whilst on my international placement in Borneo I had to get used to a very different hygiene and infection control standards in the hospital.
As I was working in a private hospital we had to charge the patients for every single thing that we used during their treatment session, including gloves or gauze. This often resulted in things being reused which really shouldn’t be reused, such as suction catheters. On more than one occasion I saw a member of the nursing staff suction a patient, rest the catheter on the bed, resuction and then put the catheter back into its wrapper so they don’t have to charge a patient next time they suction then.
This goes against absolutely everything we have been taught in uni and on prac. After speaking to the physios there, in particular the physios that were trained in Australia, I realized that they were all aware this happened but when medical care is so expensive and most of the patients struggle to pay for the basic treatment there is not much else they can do. It took a while to get used to but it is understandable why it does happen.
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This really makes us realise how lucky we are to have the strict infection control and hygiene procedures that we have here.
It is unfortunate for the patients that they are not receiving the best care and had to pay for every single thing. But I guess the patieents are grateful enough that they are receiving medical attention and infection control will be something that they will be least worry about. It is sometimes shocking when witnessing the practice of health in other countries and how things are prioritized differently to what it is in Australia.
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