美国国家公共电台 NPR Handshake-Free Zones Target Spread Of Germs In The Hospital

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Infections in the hospital in particular are a serious and potentially life-threatening problem. And many of these infections are spread through the hands of health care workers.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Well, now one Los Angeles hospital is testing a new way to decrease infections by asking people not to shake hands. Anna Gorman reports.

ANNA GORMAN, BYLINE¹: Dr. Mark Sklansky is a self-described germaphobe. He thinks a lot about how easily germs are spread.

MARK SKLANSKY: If I shake someone's hand, or if I am at a computer terminal, or I'm using a phone or opening a door, or I know that my hands are now contaminated - and I need to be careful, and I need to wash my hands.

GORMAN: And he does. But he thinks doctors shouldn't shake hands in the first place.

SKLANSKY: We're trying to do everything we can to minimize hospital-acquired infection, except for the most obvious and easiest thing to do in my opinion, which is to stop shaking hands.

GORMAN: So Sklansky decided² to create a handshake-free zone. He's a pediatric cardiologist at UCLA and picked the neonatal intensive care unit, where the tiniest and sickest babies are taken care of. Sklansky and colleagues put up signs and met with staff and families. Neonatologist Joanna Parga says she liked the idea but didn't know if it would work.

JOANNA PARGA: Because the handshake is so ingrained in our culture - that I was wondering what patients and families would think.

GORMAN: They didn't ban the handshake in the NICU. But they did suggest other options - a fist bump, a smile, a bow.

PARGA: And I do a lot of the shoulder touch now or, you know, upper arm touch or shoulder touch.

GORMAN: Parga shows me around the unit.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)

GORMAN: She points to a sink just inside the door. Beside it is a sign with a big slash³ through two hands shaking.

PARGA: Hi. How are you doing? I'm Dr. Parga.

GORMAN: As she walks through the unit, she stops to say hello to a family.

PARGA: Are you Mom? Hi. Nice to meet you, too. I'm not going to shake your hand.

GORMAN: She explains the handshake-free zone.

PARGA: It's to help prevent infection in the NICU. It's just another way to try to keep our babies safe.

GORMAN: Sklansky and others surveyed staff and parents about the change and found most people were on board, especially the families.

BRITTNEY SCOTT: (Shushing).

GORMAN: New mom Brittney Scott stands above her son's crib. He sleeps to the sound of a babbling⁴ brook⁵.

SCOTT: This is Samuel, my son.

GORMAN: Samuel is in the NICU because of a problem with his intestines⁶. Scott says she'd never heard of a handshake-free zone.

SCOTT: So I was a little taken aback by it at first. But, yeah, once you really understand kind of the meaning behind it, it's great.

GORMAN: She knows Samuel is at risk of infection, so avoiding germs is important. Scott says now she prefers a smile to a handshake.

SCOTT: A smile goes a long ways in here. There's a lot of ups and downs when being a parent to a NICU baby.

GORMAN: Some infectious disease specialists argue that doctors don't need to stop shaking hands. They just need to scrub better. Studies show only about 40 percent of doctors and others comply with hospital hand-washing policies. Sklansky says, why not do both?

SKLANSKY: It's not in any means to take the place of hand-washing. It's actually meant to complement⁷ those efforts.

GORMAN: His next step is to see if handshake-free zones will reduce infections. He's convinced they will. I'm Anna Gorman in Los Angeles.

INSKEEP: She's a correspondent with Kaiser Health News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

4 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

5 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

6 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

7 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。