Posted by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 5:06pm
Msg #356477

Just got back from a hospital patient notarization...

After I handed the signer (a patient in the hospital) my notary journal and my nice Uniball Jetstream pen, the son held my journal for him, then took the pen and the journal and handed them back to me. Then he immediately washes his hands and says, "Oh by the way, he has a skin condition called MRSA, and I guess it's highly contagious." I just stared and him and said, "Well, I think you should have told me that BEFORE I came."

Then the son and his aunt then went on to say that it's only contagious if I come in contact with his body fluids, which as far as I know I didn't. But holy cow, shouldn't that be MY decision if I want to come into that environment!?!?

Note to self for future: Ask if signer is contagious (I have always been careful not to pry into anyone's medical condition) and use a cheap disposable pen!!!!

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 10/12/10 5:16pm
Msg #356478

Probably worth reading .....



http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735

Reply by Calnotary on 10/12/10 5:29pm
Msg #356480

you can call me paranoic but...

If I can I choose I do not go to hospitals. I think it is enough when I take my daughters to their Dr. appt. Experts say to go to the hospital only when it's really necessary otherwise you will get more bacteria,germs diseases while under the hospital's care.JMHO.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 5:41pm
Msg #356484

Re: you can call me paranoic but...

I have done several hospital notarizations without issue, but this one has definitely made me stop and think about whether it's something I will continue doing. The signer was soooooo grateful that I was there - that made my heart all warm and mushy. But my health has to come first. I will definitely ask more questions in the future. I disinfected everything over and over once I left the room - there are Purell dispensers all over the hospital.

Glenn - thanks for the link! I Googled MRSA as soon as I got home!

Reply by PAW on 10/12/10 5:45pm
Msg #356486

Re: you can call me paranoic but...

Should have been a "contagious" warning posted on the door to the room. I just about always wear examination gloves when performing notarizations for hospital patients. And I use junk pens and leave them there.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 5:49pm
Msg #356488

Re: you can call me paranoic but...

I don't remember seeing a contagious sign, but the door was open when I arrived.

<< And I use junk pens and leave them there. >>

I'm kicking myself - I should have absolutely thought of that ahead of time!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/12/10 6:38pm
Msg #356498

Yeah...I'd never pull out one of my Jetstreams at a hospital

those things are too nice and too expensive!

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 10/12/10 6:08pm
Msg #356490

Required attire. Couldn't locate a clip, but if anyone

remembers seeing Police Squad , think of the "love sceen between Frank and jane.. Here is a excerpt from a review that should jog your memory

"Pricilla Presley proves conclusively she was much more than a celebrity wife with a fine performance as Jane, Drebin's girlfriend. Indeed, the interplay between Presley and Nielson provides a feast of laughs, not least the scene where they first make love and decide to practice "safe sex". The full body latex condoms they both don to protect themselves from STD's give a whole new meaning to the expression.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 10/12/10 6:17pm
Msg #356492

My grandmother developed MRSA while in the hospital

for an auto injury. We were told that MRSA was some sort of staff infection which she caught from bacteria in the hospital. The door was marked and we were required to wear a gown, rubber gloves and a mask before entering the room.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/12/10 6:21pm
Msg #356493

When I get calls to the hospital, I've been making it a habit to asking about isolation and contagions. One time, I was told the person has MRSA, and I happily went, but I made sure they let me have gloves and a paper gown when I was there... and I used a cheapo pen that I let them keep, plus asked the the signer use gloves, too. As I left the room, I put my journal in a big plastic zippy bag. When I got home, I put my journal out on a back table in the blazing hot desert sun for about 6 hours.

The doctor at the hospital told me that heat and UV kills MRSA pretty quickly.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 6:32pm
Msg #356496

Thanks for that info, Marion! I will take my hair dryer to the journal, set on high...

Reply by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 6:35pm
Msg #356497

Ooops! Sorry, meant to spell it Marian!!!!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/12/10 6:39pm
Msg #356501

No problem... happens all the time n/m

Reply by CopperheadVA on 10/12/10 6:38pm
Msg #356500

Ooops! Sorry, meant to spell it Marian!!!!

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 10/12/10 6:49pm
Msg #356502

CopperheadVA, there SHOULD have been a huge sign on

this patients door requiring one who is entering, to wear a gown and gloves at all times while in that room, as this is standard procedure for patients with possibly contagious diseases and/or those who have low immune systems and can catch whatever you have.

I believe you will be okay though and YEAH, would've been nice to have a sign up or at the very least, have the son warn you before you went in to wear gloves...geez.

I think the lesson here is boys and girls, when receiving calls like this, find out what the illness is or if is airborne (contagious) and wear a mask and gloves at all times if so.

JMO.... =)

Reply by Jessica Ward on 10/12/10 7:29pm
Msg #356512

MRSA sucks... I've had it a few times. (I play recreational ice-hockey). The bacteria hang out on the hockey gear. I put my gear through the dishwasher with bleach (yes, I do) but have still gotten MRSA on skin lesions (ankles, ears, etc). I've also had major surgeries, wherein a MRSA infection would have been the end of me (open heart-surgery), and my daughter has HIV/AIDS (adopted from East Africa), so I'm a bit of a germaphobe--mostly concerned about anything that we might bring into our house and expose our daughter to.

As for pens, I have a two-pouch pen pocket, because I am really paranoid about pens.

Clean pens are in one pouch, and as soon as a pen is used, it gets put away in another pouch on the same bag. Once I get home for the night, all the pens get a spray-down with lysol, and go back with the "clean" pens.

I DO NOT use the same pens that my clients use. I have a "special" pen which is kept in a separate pouch on my bag. (When people ask, I tell them that my justification is since I do this for a living, I get to be picky about my pens).

Also, just like good hospital protocol, I wash in and wash out--with a pump-bottle of purel in my car. As soon as I set my bag down in my car, I wash my hands. If it's an especially funky house, I usually say "oh, keep the pens--they're nice pens and everyone loves them."

I've been in some FILTHY houses, and don't want to bring back any of that funk to my kids or my pets, but I'm not so picky that I'm going to stoop to crappy pens. ;-)

Just my $0.02.

Reply by MW/VA on 10/12/10 9:09pm
Msg #356528

MRSA is extremely contagious & there have been record

nos. of cases this year. I know of several people who picked it up at a hospital or doc in the box.

Reply by HisHughness on 10/13/10 12:04am
Msg #356538

Gee, thanks, guys...

Thanks to your posts, I've counted about 18 things that I've been doing wrong, any of which appaarently could have killed me (I have an artificial heart value, more bypasses than the Santa Monica Freeway and enough stents to keep the Chunnel open).

I assume you have all helped me live a lot longer, due to the warnings. Even if you haven't, it's going to seem a lot longer because it's for damned sure I won't be sleeping much for the next couple of months till I recover from the shivers you've given me over my last two hospital visits.

Reply by jba/fl on 10/13/10 3:47pm
Msg #356618

Let's add to your shivers -

I am recovering from MRSA since mid-September and won't consider myself fully over it until my next surgery on the 22nd and I'm out of the doctor's office. My surgery will be in office as I don't want to be in a surgical center or hospital.

I had been to no hospitals, but I do live an active lifestyle as I can. I have no clue how or where - just a pimple on my chest became a boil that became infected. Camping and kayaking? relatively solo endeavors, but I do wipe away sweat , toss river and spring water on me while paddling. Older people have thinner skin - did I scratch myself breaking the skin open to this? Again, another of life's mysteries.

Can I retreat from life in order to keep from getting it or something akin to it in the future? Not likely. I can wash my hands, keep my nose blown, wash my hands, be proactive in germ sleuthing and take whatever precautions I can possible take by reading up on what is going around, how it is passed, keeping out of hospitals but if there, totally watching for signs of creeping crud that wants to attach itself to me. But this I do know - life in a bubble is not for me.

Prudence has to be the byword.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/13/10 10:09am
Msg #356560

*IF* this guy was telling the truth and it *was* MRSA, doesn't it seem odd to you that there were no isolation precautions in effect and no warnings outside the door?

This guy may have been confused and maybe it wasn't MRSA - or maybe it wasn't contagious any longer. Nevertheless, if it were me and I'd found out after the fact, I'd be on the phone with hospital administration to check on this - it if is, in fact, MRSA, the staff on that floor are sorely lacking in their control of the situation and that hospital is now exposed to a claim - by YOU - should you develop MRSA.

I'm hoping for the best and the guy was just confused about what was going on -

Good Luck Linda!!

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/13/10 4:10pm
Msg #356622

That whole thing made me wonder, too, if they guy was telling the truth. If he was, I would be horrified at that cavalier attitude - both by him and by the hospital. I'm no expert on MRSA, but I've always heard that it was highly contagious.

Regardless, I will be using much more caution next time I go to a hospital signing!

In the meantime, I take lots of precautions to keep my immune system as strong as possible and it seems to be working well for me. (I'm still going on a lifetime record of more than two and a half years without even a sniffle. Unfortunately, a flu shot - already got mine for this year - and lots of supplements didn't help with a sciatica problem, but that's thankfully all better, too.)

Reply by Mary Ellen Elmore on 10/13/10 8:59pm
Msg #356663

If he had MRSA and all humans have it or simple staph on their skin. But if he had that to the point of being in the hospital for it--there would have been a bag on his door with gloves and gowns and for you to put on before entering the room.

My 2nd daughter contracted it inside a c-section incision and came close to dying.

MRSA is staph on steriods. There is only one bacterial infection that is worse/more dangerous.

Reply by jba/fl on 10/13/10 9:21pm
Msg #356667

only one bacterial infection that is worse/more dangerous.............and that is? I hate these cliff hangers!