In response to the national infection crisis, the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) advise that you can take steps to protect yourself in their brochure "Preventing Infections in the Hospital – What you as a patient can do."
They offer ten action steps you can take when you’re hospitalized. Here is what they recommend:
1. Wash your hands carefully after handling any type of soiled material and after you have gone to the bathroom.
They offer ten action steps you can take when you’re hospitalized. Here is what they recommend:
1. Wash your hands carefully after handling any type of soiled material and after you have gone to the bathroom.
2. Do not be afraid to remind doctors and nurses to wash their hands before touching you.
3. If you have an intravenous catheter, keep the skin around the dressing clean and dry. Immediately tell your nurse if the dressing becomes loose or wet. And (this is my recommendation) if your catheter is in for more than 48 hours, ask your doctor why and when it can be removed.
4. Let your nurse know right away if the dressing on a wound becomes loose or wet.
5. If you have any type of catheter or drainage tube, let your nurse know if it becomes loose or dislodged.
6. If you have diabetes, be sure that you and your doctor discuss the best way to control your blood sugar before, during, and after your hospital stay. High blood sugar significantly increases the risk of infection.
7. If you are overweight, losing weight will reduce the risk of infection following surgery.
8. If you are a smoker, quit. This reduces the chance of developing a lung infection and improves healing.
9. Prevent pneumonia by performing deep breathing exercises and getting out of bed.
10. Ask your friends and relatives not to visit if they feel sick. Make sure that all visitors wash their hands when they visit and after they use the bathroom.
Report it! If you ever acquire an infection, ask the doctor for the exact name and spelling of the infection. Also ask to see someone from the Infection Control Unit (every hospital must have one). Ask for an explanation of the nature of the infection, and what best practices are being used to treat it. If this infection has caused a real hardship for you, report the incident to your local health department. You may prevent someone else from going through the same thing since the Health Department will be obligated to look into your report and, if the hospital’s infection rate is above the norm, they will demand corrective action.
Where Infections Strike
Hospital-acquired infections commonly find their breeding ground in the urinary tract, around the wound of the surgical site, in the bloodstream and in the lung leading to pneumonia. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council PHC4 in their recent landmark study learned that wounds resulting from surgeries performed on the small and large intestine, and surgery for blood vessels account for the most frequent incidence of surgical site infections. Patients who suffer heart attacks or have peripheral artery disease are most likely to come down with pneumonia. Patients admitted with lung disease are more likely to acquire blood stream infections. And older patients are far more likely to suffer from urinary tract infections than any other age group. My guess is that this is related to higher catheter use prescribed for the elderly. In a recent study reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers at the Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System found that having a catheter in place for more than two days increases the likelihood of an infection at a rate of 5 percent each day. They found that, all too often, busy doctors with lots of patients simply forgot to give the orders to remove it.
Report it! If you ever acquire an infection, ask the doctor for the exact name and spelling of the infection. Also ask to see someone from the Infection Control Unit (every hospital must have one). Ask for an explanation of the nature of the infection, and what best practices are being used to treat it. If this infection has caused a real hardship for you, report the incident to your local health department. You may prevent someone else from going through the same thing since the Health Department will be obligated to look into your report and, if the hospital’s infection rate is above the norm, they will demand corrective action.
Where Infections Strike
Hospital-acquired infections commonly find their breeding ground in the urinary tract, around the wound of the surgical site, in the bloodstream and in the lung leading to pneumonia. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council PHC4 in their recent landmark study learned that wounds resulting from surgeries performed on the small and large intestine, and surgery for blood vessels account for the most frequent incidence of surgical site infections. Patients who suffer heart attacks or have peripheral artery disease are most likely to come down with pneumonia. Patients admitted with lung disease are more likely to acquire blood stream infections. And older patients are far more likely to suffer from urinary tract infections than any other age group. My guess is that this is related to higher catheter use prescribed for the elderly. In a recent study reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers at the Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System found that having a catheter in place for more than two days increases the likelihood of an infection at a rate of 5 percent each day. They found that, all too often, busy doctors with lots of patients simply forgot to give the orders to remove it.
1 comment:
Dear Linda, In addition to the above -- why do surgical doctors, nurses and other health providers walk through hallways, cafeterias, etc with their surgical masks, gowns, booties, etc? I thought the surgical area was supposed to be sterile and their surgical clothing should only be worn in the operating room. Also, when I was a hospital patient, some interns came in to change my surgical dressings -- I asked if they washed their hands and they laughed and made a joke of it -- said I wasn't supposed to ask that. Even then, I did not see them wash their hands. In doctors' offices, I've had different doctors come in to help me, and they did other things first -- even coughed and touched things -- never washed their hands. Doctors and nurses need training and to be reminded of sanitation. Also, I'm so glad Holy Spirit Hosp is at last smoke-free -- I've suffered from all the smoking and cigarette butts all over the place -- second-hand smoke is harmful and I know the consequences.
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