FEATURES OF GENERAL PATIENT CARE 23

when he came to the hospital. It is important to protect from infection

not only the patient but also the staff, and conditions of hygiene directed
for the patient's benefit will assist also the staff. However, the staff have on
their side the advantage of a tendency to acquire immunity, whereas the
tendency of the patient is to acquire infection. He is already in a state of
lowered resistance and is susceptible to invasion by bacteria.
The of cross infection in hospitals depends upon
successful prevention
every single member of its staff, not only those who handle patients but
those who handle materials which will be in contact with patients and ward
and departmental clinical staff. Much attention to detail is required from
all concerned. For example, a laundry-bag can bring infection to the ward
because at some stage in its transport it has been allowed to rest on the
ground in the hospital yard.
As a contribution to general departmental hygiene, radiographers
should pay attention to personal hygiene. In the previous chapter it was
explained that a radiographer who looks clean and fresh makes a better
impression on the patient, but the practical value of personal fastidiousness
goes much further than external appearance.
Short clean nails, clean and tidy hair, clean shoes, and a fresh white coat
are lesslikely to carry and transmit disease than are the same personal
features inthe opposite condition. Hands washed between the handling of
patients, and after contact with such articles as bedpans, urinals, used
instruments, dressings, etc., should be a practised routine so customary that
it does not need to be remembered.
Hygiene for the patient must be maintained by ensuring that he has a
cleangown to wear and a clean cubicle in which to undress. In the X-ray
room clean linen and blankets should be provided for the X-ray table.
Disposable paper sheets of various sizes are useful here, since they can be
laid over the pillow case and over a linen sheet where the patient lies and
fresh ones supplied for each patient.
Any given to the patient for his use— for example bedpans,
utensils
urinals, receivers, drinking mugs, containers for dentures, etc. — must be
clean. Later chapters deal with the question of sterilization and the special
case of the patient with a communicable disease (see Chapters IV and XIV).
The radiolucent plastic foam pads which are accessories frequently
found in X-ray departments should be washed often, and may con-
veniently be enclosed in polythene sheeting to save them from contamina
tion by blood and other discharges. For drying the hands, ordinary roller
towels should not be used as they provide a medium favourable to bacterial
growth, and they should be replaced by disposable paper towels, or the
c