Medical humor print captures the reality of the first twenty minutes of a hospital admission. Feel free to use this image in your talks and presentations (as long as you include the attribution to GiggleMed.com). Just right click on the image & choose “Save As…” (PC) or “Save Image As…” (Mac)
Hospital acquired infection, healthcare associated infection… the name keeps changing, but who cares what we call it (as long as we keep the abbreviation the same – HAI – for the sake of The Literature and all of these signs we’ve made).
Healthcare associated infection is, of course, a huge concern. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), catheter-associated infections (central lines, Foleys, etc), C. diff, MRSA, and many others (here’s a HAI list from the CDC).
At GiggleMed.com, we applaud the efforts of Kimberly-Clark Corporation in creating the HAI Watchdog Community (but not so much in the sturdiness of the Scott toilet paper my wife bought in bulk from Sam’s… that’s a gripe for another day) as it seems to be one of the better efforts at reducing such infections without instilling fear in the masses that we’re being invaded.
But of course, we think one of the best ways to educate people and influence them to change for the better, is through humor. So naturally, we changed some of their signs around:
We also like to use such efforts to shamelessly plug our educational medical humor/humorous medical education products:
Check out these (Not-So Funny) HAI resources:
Disclaimer: GiggleMed.com has absolutely no financial relationship with Kimberly-Clark or any other large corporation (yet). But if they (or any of their competitors) would like to ask us about co-branding our Bugs on Scrubs text, we’d certainly consider it :) Hint, hint… nudge, nudge… wink, wink.
Something we all wonder about when it comes to kids’ shows… ZDoggMD looks into some of the psychopathology on Sesame Street. An astute diagnostician, I’d love to see what he’d say about Tele Tubbies. Uh Ooooh.
Anyway check out this funny video from ZDoggMD & then go check out his blog.
Check out more funny stuff from ZDoggMD’s blog.
Saw this sign in a hospital hallway, just outside the ER.
Demerol-Free Zone… not to be confused with Free Demerol Zone.
Naturally, I turned around and left.
It’s a shameless plug, but hey, this is my blog…
The fact is, medical humor can be a valuable tool in your hospital Quality Improvement initiatives. This “Got Foley?” medical humor sign reminds staff about the importance of prompt removal of Foley catheters to decrease the likelihood of catheter-associated infection. And it does so in a fun way…
Check it out:
Although there are some great gifts at the GiggleMed store, you’re completely pathetic if if you’re considering these bad boys for Mothers Day or Fathers Day… I want no part of it.
Sure… call me strange… but when I was perusing the latest issue of ACP Hospitalist, I came across a photo from a recent IDSA Conference.
IDSA (Infectious Disease Society of America), of course, is a well-respected organization of healthcare professionals devoted to patient care, education, research, public health, and prevention relating to infectious diseases.
Well, I wondered as I looked at the audience in this photo…
What’s up with all of the baldness and receding hairlines in the ID crowd?
(Not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
PS – I blurred out the faces because nothing screams “LAWSUIT!” more than bunch of angry, bald doctors.
I received an email from a fellow GiggleMed doc saying “You won’t believe it! I just passed a sign situated right in front of a cemetery that says ‘Nursing Home Ahead’”. I promptly emailed him back saying, “Please tell me you got a picture. Please.”
Well, his wife didn’t like it too much, but he took some time away from his family vacation in Massachusetts to go back and take this picture. It’s real… no PhotoShop… no nothin’.
It’s proof that if you graduate last in your marketing class, you can still get a job.
Nurses, doctors, techs… really all of us in healthcare have had our late nights studying. In med school, it was not uncommon to string together a few all-nighters. I could see something like this emerging at the end of one of those strings…
Umm, yeah… I’ll have two anaphase… uh… one late prophase… and, oh! does the telophase count as one or two?
The original artwork comes from a 2005 photo series by Kevin Van Aelst. And for you quacks who didn’t study… this is a model of cellular mitosis.
The appropriate use of medical humor could (and should) have an important role in medical education and public awareness. And although I do think everyone’s going a little overboard with their worries about H1N1, I applaud the effort of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in soliciting the public’s help in alerting the public on the importance of washing hands. The 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest had over 200 entries this month – some funny, some serious.
On September 22nd at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the winner of the H1N1 Public Service Announcement Contest. Congratulations to Dr. Clarke of Baldwin, New York for his winning video H1N1 Rap. You can see his video here:
Dr. Clarke… if you’re reading this… First, great job on the video… Second, some advice… if you make a video for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, then be sure to lose the hand gestures.
The top ten videos from the contest can be found at Flu.gov.
Also, check out Dr. John Clarke’s Health Hop® Music for some pretty awesome CDs for your patients and their families.
OK… The medical literature is too rich with (unintentional) humor, that I can’t help but start a series about it. Medical Literature Classics – some funny things from our glorious past.
This one happens to come from DeGowin & DeGowin, 1977… which is actually not that long ago.
Do you know of some funny stuff from past medical literature? Share it. ==> Tell me about a funny reference from the literature and get a free medical humor report <==
