is there some new way to seperate sick people in a doctors office from others ?

Sorry I know I shouldn't make fun out of this, but I can just see our local surgery, having the big room for everyone divided up into different categories, aisle one for coughs and sneezes, aisle two for mumps and measles, aisle three for sprains and injuries, aisle four for anything else that doesn't include aisle one to three and aisle five if you are waiting for samples! I know what you mean you could go in totally healthy and then pick up all manner of bugs, germs and viruses and you only went in to ask for a repeat prescription!

Yes I do think they should be separated. When I lived in Germany I had a case of suspected German measles. I was told by the receptionist that I would have to come in by the back door and wait in another area in case there were any pregnant women in the waiting room. I was very impressed at that.

They should put sick people in isolation, but I guess there isn't enough room. I have been in emergency rooms where all kinds of very sick people were crammed together. I think this is very careless, but what can you do?

Don't talk like that we all have to go to our doctor's office. :) I have been at my doctor's office and seen an oriental lady wearing a face mask, she wasn't taking any chances.

I have a peditrican that has a different entrance and room for the sick and the well kids ...I think it is wonderful ...Kids can carry so many germs unknowingly that this is the best way to keep other kids form getting what the sick kids come in for ...it would be wonderful for every Doctors office to have ...I hat going tothe hospital for just that reason ...ther is sick people there and I sure don't want what they have ...flu ,pnemonia...etc

I must say that I have considered this before. Actually, I think about it every time I take my children to the doctor. I am sure we couldn't force the clinics to do it, but it would really be nice! I agree that it causes more sickness. I know that couldn't separate by illnes ie- a flu room, a strep room, etc...so yeah it would be nice to just be put in the examing room after checking in...they'd need many more patient rooms though. Still, I would the idea! Doctors probably would fight it though! Usually if my kids are just in for allergy issues, I try to keep them away from the "sick" kids! I make the wash their hands after playing with the office toys. And there have been times that I have had a really sick kid try to hug my kid or touch them when they were babies. I usually try to sit in the section with the least amount of people and frequent hand washing and using hand sanitizer. But I like your thoughts on this.

Yes, there should be something the health department should do. Perhaps more rooms for very sick people. But it would raise the cost of the visit, as the doctor's would have to have a bigger office and pay more rent. I don't think we will ever see it. Perhaps we should wear a mask in the waiting room to avoid germs from the very ill. What do you think? Please rate me the best response, if you are happy with my reply. Blessings, M&M

Well our pediatrics at the clinic here has the well kids seperated from the sick kids. As far as adults you are pretty much w/ the well and the sick. But they keep the clinics cold for a reason. The cold helps kill the germs ;-)

at the doctor's office i go to they have two rooms. one for sick people and one for well people. so nothing mixes and no one else gets sick. but i think the offices that dont have these actually want you to get sick so you have to come back and pay them more money to tell you it's a virus that will go away on it's own. i do think all doctor's offices should have seperate rooms.

Yes you would think that patients would be separated. What about people that go with you to the appointment? If anyone goes with you they should probably wait outside or they to will be exposed to some illness.

I think it's a great idea to seperate the sick from the not sick patients. My daughters used to go to a pediatrician that had 2 waiting rooms. One was for the sick kids, and the other for the ones with check ups. It's the only doc's office I've ever seen like that, and it was many years ago. :-)

i think sick people should be separated

I KNOW what you mean! I used to go the doctor and be sick and think what if I get what THEY have? I wish we could just sit not so close together. I used to try to get a chair far from them and sit there so as to not catch something I dont already have. Ugh. It would suck to get sicker then I already was.

The doctors office is not the main issue here. Hospitals are rife with superbugs you go in for an operation and its almost like a lottery you dont want to win but chances are high that you will catch one. Our local hospital reported several hundred cases last year alone. They can be fatal.

Most offices don't have the space to separate people who are sick, especially during cold and flu season. A lot of pediatrician's offices here have a "sick" waiting room and a "well" waiting room. In the office I used to work at, we would try to get someone who was really ill into the back in an exam room as soon as possible, but sometimes that's not even possible. On some days there are so many sick people in a doctor's office that it would be absolutely impossible to separate them all, although I do think that the well people should have a separate area. If I'm healthy and at the office for a routine followup, I don't want to catch a severe upper-respiratory infection from people sitting on either side of me!

Funny you should ask, we just came from there! My did is bad sick. My children's doctors office has two waiting rooms one for well kids one for sick kids. I thought it was a great idea, especially for mothers of newborn babies bringing them in for well checks.

My doctors office has a separate sick waiting room and a regular waiting room. I also make sure to wash my hands thoroughly when I leave any medical facility.

All of the clinics here where I live (Oklahoma) have signs up that say something along the lines of, if you are coughing, sneezing or think you might be contagious, ask the person at the desk for a mask. The medical staff seeing you is coming in contact with all those people too, and they aren't getting tons of illnesses or passing them to patients (for the most part). So really seperating them out doesn't make much difference. As long as you aren't swapping bodily fluids or touching others, you should be ok. Just make sure to wash your hands and keep them away from your mouth, nose, etc while being seated in the waiting room.

unfortionately, i would have to say no. many illnesses have incubation periods and people don't know they're sick and contagious so any attempt of seperation is futil. i'm sure someone's working on the problem, although you could write your state rep about this issue.

Imagine being the doctor, having to come in contact with ALL of the people regardless! I'm not sure if this is happening everywhere, but here in NH, the doctors offices/hospitals all have signs up that say if you're contagious that you need to put a paper mask on(they provide them). I've never actually seen anyone wearing one, but in theory it's a good idea...