The article I used gives details on a book written by by Lindsey Fitzharris The Butchering Art, giving an insight on the early years of medicine practice involving the doctors and practices during surgeries.
Fitzharris mentions how people believed that pain and death were just normal after surgical procedures.
She also touches on how one surgeon, Joseph Lister (1827-1912) was one of few who started looking into precautionary treatments practiced might inhibit some illnesses.
In a time when so many diseases and deaths were easily accepted as a "normal" outcome of surgeries, Lister's reputation in antiseptic techniques and practices was established by his patient Queen Victoria.
Now, precautionary cleanliness in healthcare has become one of the greatest parts of providing “quality” services. With companies now creating and capitalizing on sterile and compliant products to use during surgeries or regular doctor visits. Compliant in the fact that we now have laws and regulations on how to wash hands and or clean items for use in procedures.
Once I began working in a hospital I realized how strict these regulations have become to prevent bacteria or contaminations from being spread. Its also interesting to me how they never thought of using sterile items in the eighteenth century like the article states. To think they would have surgeries with many spectators aside from those preforming the surgeries, they could have any type of disease and not even be aware they could be airborne illnesses being spread to the patient. Along side with reusing the same items used on other patients, new patients were doomed from the start. In the article it mentions how in the 1800’s “most surgeons…regarded infection as unavoidable” and one surgeon recorded a 300% mortality rate. Where an assistant somehow had a finger dismembered, the patient died and an observer died of a heart attack. Thank goodness I was born in the later years of improved medicine practices. Where we now have only those qualified to be in the same room, wearing and dawning proper attire to prevent infections. Not everything is guaranteed to be 100% affective but the results and standards have become much higher in patient care.
References:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7674/full/550036a.html?foxtrotcallback=true
Fitzharris mentions how people believed that pain and death were just normal after surgical procedures.
She also touches on how one surgeon, Joseph Lister (1827-1912) was one of few who started looking into precautionary treatments practiced might inhibit some illnesses.
In a time when so many diseases and deaths were easily accepted as a "normal" outcome of surgeries, Lister's reputation in antiseptic techniques and practices was established by his patient Queen Victoria.
Now, precautionary cleanliness in healthcare has become one of the greatest parts of providing “quality” services. With companies now creating and capitalizing on sterile and compliant products to use during surgeries or regular doctor visits. Compliant in the fact that we now have laws and regulations on how to wash hands and or clean items for use in procedures.
Once I began working in a hospital I realized how strict these regulations have become to prevent bacteria or contaminations from being spread. Its also interesting to me how they never thought of using sterile items in the eighteenth century like the article states. To think they would have surgeries with many spectators aside from those preforming the surgeries, they could have any type of disease and not even be aware they could be airborne illnesses being spread to the patient. Along side with reusing the same items used on other patients, new patients were doomed from the start. In the article it mentions how in the 1800’s “most surgeons…regarded infection as unavoidable” and one surgeon recorded a 300% mortality rate. Where an assistant somehow had a finger dismembered, the patient died and an observer died of a heart attack. Thank goodness I was born in the later years of improved medicine practices. Where we now have only those qualified to be in the same room, wearing and dawning proper attire to prevent infections. Not everything is guaranteed to be 100% affective but the results and standards have become much higher in patient care.
References:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7674/full/550036a.html?foxtrotcallback=true
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