Preventing Infections & Illness
Your visit to your family or friend at Riverside Medical Center surely means a lot to them—and you. But patients may be more susceptible to catching an illness than those who are well.
To help keep our patients safe and prevent the spread of infection, please stay home if you’re sick. If you have a fever, cold, cough, rash, body aches, sore throat, diarrhea or are vomiting, it’s best to save your visit for when you’re feeling better.
Even if you’re not sick, there are things you can do to help keep patients safe from infection during your visit:
- Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before and after entering a patient’s room or place of care. And always wash your hands before eating and after using the bathroom.
- Limit the number of visitors you bring.
- Be mindful of visiting hours.
- Wear clean clothes.
- Don’t sit on a patient’s bed or use the patient’s toilet.
- Before bringing any gifts, food or personal items, find out what’s allowed. Some care units may not permit flowers, plants, fresh fruit or other food.
- Avoid cluttering up a patient’s room, which makes it harder to clean.
- Talk with the patient’s nurse if you have any concerns about the cleanliness of the patient’s room.
- Don’t touch a patient’s wounds or any equipment in the patient’s room.
Keeping Our Community Healthy
Heed these simple tips to help you and your family stay healthy:
- Wash your hands often! This is one of the most important things you can do to keep from getting sick and spreading germs.
- Use soap and warm water to wash your hands and scrub all surfaces for 15 seconds before rinsing.
- If soap and warm water aren’t available, rub alcohol-based hand gel into your hands until they’re dry.
- Cough or sneeze into a tissue and then throw it away.
- Stay home if you’re sick to prevent others from catching your illness. And keep your distance from others who are coughing or sneezing.
- Get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly, eat nutritious foods, manage stress and drink lots of fluids.
Preparing for Flu Season
Fight the flu by protecting yourself—get a flu shot. The best time to get it is between October and November. But you can benefit from the flu (influenza) shot throughout the flu season, which generally peaks in late December to early March.
While most of us should get the flu shot, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following groups in particular receive the vaccine:
- People at high risk for complications from the flu, including residents of long-term care facilities and pregnant women
- Individuals who can pass on the flu to others at high risk for complications, such as healthcare workers and those who care for children younger than 23 months
- People between the ages of 50 to 64