Hi Lactnetters,
If you all remember I said about the bottles and teats being
decontaminated etc, and no use of Milton for all sharing bottles. In the
Nicu or Special Care Nursery, stringent rules have to be adhered to
including reminding staff of their responsibility.
I oversee the staff and their practices, including the management of
equipment for the patients in every area of the hospital.  Policing
staff practices and reminding them of their responsibility it is very
time consuming. Even reminding them their professional reposibilities
and not wearing jewelry that could put a patient at risk is hard to get
accross at times.
It is not good enough to just spray with antiseptic. If the mother is
using a pump, then it must be used by the same mother throughout her
stay, she is reponsible to wash it and put it into Milton.
The Milton can only be used for individual useage, many bugs are not
killed off by the Milton, but the spread  can be minimised, in
particularly, newborn babies and their mothers only use things for them
as a couple together during the stay in the hospital.
The staff universal precautions should be used at all times, but as the
infection control officer, I have to reinforce this everyday.
My 2 penny worth for you.
Regards,
Hannah M Herod MPH
Midwife, Trainee Lactation Consultant, Infection Control Officer,
Sydney Australia,
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