The anti-mask brain rot is penetrating the hospital system in a terrifying fashion.
Masks are necessary for accessing central lines, and more and more nurses are starting to have issues with wearing a mask during STERILE PROTOCOL.
These lines are going right into our hearts and nurses are throwing tantrums about having to cover up their faces for 5 minutes.
This has not happened at my infusion center personally but I have mutuals and friends who have had to beg their nurses to put on the mask that literally comes in the sterile access kit.
To clarify since this is gaining notes fast:
This is a port, an example of a central line. You need to have a mask on when you flush the needle and put it into the reservoir in the chest, then put the dressing on. There’s a catheter from the reservoir that goes into the top of the heart.
There are other central lines like PICCs, Broviacs, and Hickman lines that look like peripheral IVs, but they’re still “central” and go into a central vein. Both access and dressing changes need to be done with a sterile mask and gloves.
Because of the access to the heart, the risk of bacteremia and sepsis from contamination is high.
There is a simple solution to this. Tell the nurse if they refuse to mask up that they have to put on the form that they refused to put on the mask to ensure a sterile environment so that if there is an infection, there is a legal trail by which insurance companies can follow in regards to a malpractice lawsuit.
And my spouse's wife died of sepsis. It is not a pleasant way to die. Any nurse who refuses to mask up because it's inconvenient and thus risks causing sepsis is a threat to public health and should be sued into oblivion.
This. Document it. A lot of asshole medpros shape up real quick when you demand they document their horseshit for the next person to see.