You might read the statement above and find it hard to relate it to best sluice room practice, but you’d be amazed at how many hospital staff have failed to adhere to this mantra in and around the sluice room. Imagine if you will a hospice scenario with bowel cancer patients or residents struggling with incontinence. Imagine now a member of staff complaining out loud about having to take away soiled sheets.
With sluice rooms very close to residents in order to adhere to safety protocol and reduce the risk of the spread of infection it is vitally important to keep any such thoughts in your head and not vocalize them as this can be incredibly embarrassing and even dehumanizing for patients. Wait until you are inside the sluice room, alone to feel like you can express any distaste via your facial expressions or otherwise and you will be avoiding upsetting already vulnerable people.
Treating patients with dignity and respect should always be at the forefront of any conscious or subconscious actions in the hospital or hospice environment. Surreptitiously removing any soiled materials to be taken to the sluice room and making light of it is one of the kindest acts when it comes to patient care. It is hard to put a price on dignity and in fact, once a person loses a sense of their dignity it can be almost irreparable.
When it comes to actions inside the sluice room, using sluice machines such as the hospital macerator or any other hospital sluice room equipment it is vital that sanitary protocol is adhered to. In a way, this is one of the most fundamental ways in which you can maintain consideration and respect for patients – by avoiding the unnecessary spread of contaminants.
