The big news in the media is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, which is discussed this month in our “Pediatric Patient Care” column on page 38.
Intensified Public Awareness of MRSA
It seems like MRSA has been around for quite some time, but now it is hot news and in the public eye. Newspapers, magazines, radio and TV are covering the topic. The schools are sending notifications home to parents when a child has a staph infection resistant to methicillin — even a very minor, limited one. Not surprisingly, my kids are asking me about MRSA.
Patients’ Perceptions of Their Physicians
One of my great interests is how physicians are perceived by their patients. This MRSA “epidemic” gives us an acute problem that affects people’s impressions of us. The media stresses the importance of hand washing, especially in physicians’ offices. The public picks up on this and wants to know if we’re washing our hands.
Hand Washing Habits
The answer is, of course, that we are. But our patients may not be aware of it. I have no doubt that dermatologists — who are top-notch in general — are doing what is needed to protect their patients from infection. However, patients need to see for themselves just how judiciously their physicians are protecting them in this most basic but essential of ways.
Hand washing and alcohol-based hand cleansers are freely available in the halls of our clinic, and probably yours, too. But here’s the rub: The cleansing supplies are in the hall, and the patients are in the treatment room. We may wash our hands in the hall before entering the room, then shake hands, or we could go in the room and awkwardly head toward the sink to wash before shaking hands with the patient. It may make sense to wash before going in, but then the patient doesn’t see us wash.
An Opportunity to Reassure Patients
We do lots of things to ensure that we are giving our patients great medical care that they never see. They don’t know that we’ve gone to the last AAD meeting or read the latest JAAD. They see none of our struggle in med school or residency or in post-graduate education.
Their impressions of us are based on what they see. If they see us wash, they know for themselves in no uncertain terms that we did it. If we wash in the hall, they may think we’re about to give them MRSA.
Show You Care
Giving patients great medical care is mainly about doing lots of things a little bit better.
Dermatologist Lee Davis, of Chambersburg, PA, shared a nice pearl related to hand washing that addresses the need to show patients that hands are being washed. He said that after washing and drying his hands, he carries the used paper towels into the exam room and disposes of them there, letting his patients see that he just finished washing.
What a wonderfully simple and practical way to make sure patients perceive the quality that might otherwise go unseen and unappreciated.
The big news in the media is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, which is discussed this month in our “Pediatric Patient Care” column on page 38.
Intensified Public Awareness of MRSA
It seems like MRSA has been around for quite some time, but now it is hot news and in the public eye. Newspapers, magazines, radio and TV are covering the topic. The schools are sending notifications home to parents when a child has a staph infection resistant to methicillin — even a very minor, limited one. Not surprisingly, my kids are asking me about MRSA.
Patients’ Perceptions of Their Physicians
One of my great interests is how physicians are perceived by their patients. This MRSA “epidemic” gives us an acute problem that affects people’s impressions of us. The media stresses the importance of hand washing, especially in physicians’ offices. The public picks up on this and wants to know if we’re washing our hands.
Hand Washing Habits
The answer is, of course, that we are. But our patients may not be aware of it. I have no doubt that dermatologists — who are top-notch in general — are doing what is needed to protect their patients from infection. However, patients need to see for themselves just how judiciously their physicians are protecting them in this most basic but essential of ways.
Hand washing and alcohol-based hand cleansers are freely available in the halls of our clinic, and probably yours, too. But here’s the rub: The cleansing supplies are in the hall, and the patients are in the treatment room. We may wash our hands in the hall before entering the room, then shake hands, or we could go in the room and awkwardly head toward the sink to wash before shaking hands with the patient. It may make sense to wash before going in, but then the patient doesn’t see us wash.
An Opportunity to Reassure Patients
We do lots of things to ensure that we are giving our patients great medical care that they never see. They don’t know that we’ve gone to the last AAD meeting or read the latest JAAD. They see none of our struggle in med school or residency or in post-graduate education.
Their impressions of us are based on what they see. If they see us wash, they know for themselves in no uncertain terms that we did it. If we wash in the hall, they may think we’re about to give them MRSA.
Show You Care
Giving patients great medical care is mainly about doing lots of things a little bit better.
Dermatologist Lee Davis, of Chambersburg, PA, shared a nice pearl related to hand washing that addresses the need to show patients that hands are being washed. He said that after washing and drying his hands, he carries the used paper towels into the exam room and disposes of them there, letting his patients see that he just finished washing.
What a wonderfully simple and practical way to make sure patients perceive the quality that might otherwise go unseen and unappreciated.
The big news in the media is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, which is discussed this month in our “Pediatric Patient Care” column on page 38.
Intensified Public Awareness of MRSA
It seems like MRSA has been around for quite some time, but now it is hot news and in the public eye. Newspapers, magazines, radio and TV are covering the topic. The schools are sending notifications home to parents when a child has a staph infection resistant to methicillin — even a very minor, limited one. Not surprisingly, my kids are asking me about MRSA.
Patients’ Perceptions of Their Physicians
One of my great interests is how physicians are perceived by their patients. This MRSA “epidemic” gives us an acute problem that affects people’s impressions of us. The media stresses the importance of hand washing, especially in physicians’ offices. The public picks up on this and wants to know if we’re washing our hands.
Hand Washing Habits
The answer is, of course, that we are. But our patients may not be aware of it. I have no doubt that dermatologists — who are top-notch in general — are doing what is needed to protect their patients from infection. However, patients need to see for themselves just how judiciously their physicians are protecting them in this most basic but essential of ways.
Hand washing and alcohol-based hand cleansers are freely available in the halls of our clinic, and probably yours, too. But here’s the rub: The cleansing supplies are in the hall, and the patients are in the treatment room. We may wash our hands in the hall before entering the room, then shake hands, or we could go in the room and awkwardly head toward the sink to wash before shaking hands with the patient. It may make sense to wash before going in, but then the patient doesn’t see us wash.
An Opportunity to Reassure Patients
We do lots of things to ensure that we are giving our patients great medical care that they never see. They don’t know that we’ve gone to the last AAD meeting or read the latest JAAD. They see none of our struggle in med school or residency or in post-graduate education.
Their impressions of us are based on what they see. If they see us wash, they know for themselves in no uncertain terms that we did it. If we wash in the hall, they may think we’re about to give them MRSA.
Show You Care
Giving patients great medical care is mainly about doing lots of things a little bit better.
Dermatologist Lee Davis, of Chambersburg, PA, shared a nice pearl related to hand washing that addresses the need to show patients that hands are being washed. He said that after washing and drying his hands, he carries the used paper towels into the exam room and disposes of them there, letting his patients see that he just finished washing.
What a wonderfully simple and practical way to make sure patients perceive the quality that might otherwise go unseen and unappreciated.
