Hospital-acquired infections are nowadays a major health care problem worldwide. The morbidity and mortality associated with them are at its highest.
During my clinical practice experience, I have only heard of Clostridium difficile infection three times, never really thinking that I will have to deal with this infection head on while working with patients. It was only at the start of my last clinical block that this became part of my reality. As my clinician handed out patients to us students, I immediately saw a big red sticker on the file:
CONTACT PRECAUTIONS: CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE…
… a bacterium that causes diarrhoea and colitis (inflammation of the colon) and is highly contagious (https://www.cdc.gov/cdiff/what-is.html).
I immediately started making assumptions about this patient without even meeting her first, and was instantly hesitant to work with her just because she is on contact precautions. Before this assumption could set in, another thought immediately popped up: “You are bringing a disservice to this patient. Every patient deserves the same treatment, regardless of their diagnosis”.
Article 14 of the Human Right Acts provides a basis for non-discriminatory practice, promoting equality in care, whereas article 17 prohibits the abuse of patient rights under any circumstances. Every patient has the right to be treated fairly and in a manner that does not discriminate against or stigmatise. The Equality Act guarantees this to all patients. Every patient has the right to access health and social care irrespective of their race, beliefs, background, religion and most important, in this case, their condition (Ghebreyesus, 2017).
A lot of times patient’s who are on contact precautions gets placed in a certain “box of judgement” just because they have a contagious disorder. After this encounter with the patient I only started thinking of how she must feel. What is going through her head when the health professionals need to put on gloves and aprons just to touch her? What is going through her head when other patients are staring while this is happening? Is she wondering why they only put the gloves and aprons on around her? Does she feel judged? Patients who experience stigma are more likely to have psychological and mental health issues compared to those who have not experienced stigma. When patients feel discriminated against or stigmatised, they are less likely to seek services or share information with health professionals, which can increase their risk of adverse outcomes (Hostiuc et al. 2018).
Professionalism also plays a big role, not only in situations like this, but with every patient. Your professionalism should not be influenced by a patient’s condition. Linking back to every patient having the right to be treated with respect no matter their race, beliefs, background, religion or their condition (Ghebreyesus, 2017). With that being said, your attitude and the way you work with a patient plays a crucial role in their overall wellbeing and progress of their current condition. It is important to realise that a patient should not be defined by their diagnosis just because it is more dangerous and contagious. Every patient has the same right of the same equal quality of treatment as the person sitting on lying next to them. Most of all, a patient’s diagnosis does not define who they are.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018. December 17). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cdiff/what-is.html
Ghebreyesus, T. (2017, December 10). World Health Orginization . Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/fundemental-human-right/en
Hostiuc et al. (2018) Infection and Drug Resistance, vol. 11 (2018) pp. 369-375 Published by Dove Medical Press Ltd
3 thoughts on “My diagnosis does not define me”
I think you chose a very relevant and engaging topic, and your initial formatting immediately grabs one’s attention.
Content: I think the topic allows for a bit more engagement than you presented. You briefly touch on equality, and you do discuss privacy but I think you could elaborate beyond these two concepts. Your discussion on privacy may be somewhat tautologous and long-winded, so you may benefit from revising here. Although you end off well and bring the reader back to the title, it is a bit of a leap from your last paragraph on privacy to your conclusion and it leaves the reader wanting a bit more.
Spelling and grammar: You write very well. There are however a few grammatical issues. Your third paragraph in particular reads quite difficult. In places there is an unnecessary use of commas.
Referencing: A bit scarce.
Thank you for sharing your experience. In my experience of dealing with patients with contagious diseases, I have found that it is difficult to treat them with the same standard as I do other patients, as I find myself being anxious and overly cautious making it more difficult to focus on the treatment session.
The content reflects the ethics module and your topic although some of the content goes off-topic as you go from discussing how the diagnosis should not define the patient to privacy and patient confidentiality without making a clear connection between the two topics.
There is no clear argument presented in your writing as it mostly explores your experience and your ideas towards the human rights you discussed. Perhaps try exploring an argument of how the diagnosis makes us view patients more objectively and how that could be more beneficial and present your counter-argument to suggest otherwise
Include references to support your ideas and substantiate your arguments in your final draft.
With regards to structure, spelling, and grammar. The writing has no structure and the paragraphs do not flow well. Try having a topic sentence at the beginning of your paragraphs and a leading sentence at the end of the paragraph.
With regards to spelling and grammar make the following changes( p=paragraph):
p2 line 2: head on = head-on
diarrhoea = diarrhea
p3 line 2:jumper= jumped
p7 line 1:As students we= As students, we
p”clinicians all share a big are while working with patients”= not sure what you were trying to say here
Hi Deone
Thank you for sharing your piece. If I were to find myself in a situation like this, I think I would feel the same way.
Your piece is easy to read, by making use of proper paragraphs and spacing. Your writing piece is linked to one of the topics done in class.
A few statements are backed up by references, but there are many more statements that needs to be backed up by literature.
There is some unnecessary information in your piece, which makes it a bit too long. Try to stick to what you are trying to say and make the point of this piece stand out.
The grammar of the piece is good, but there are a few spelling mistakes, otherwise the short sentences makes it easier to read.
Thank you for sharing.
All the best with the final submisssion.