What is a nosocomial infection?
What is a nosocomial infection?
Nosocomial infections arise when a patient is already in the hospital for another cause and picks up an infection there. It is also referred to as a healthcare-associated infection or a hospital-acquired infection. Hospitals are a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses that are transferred between patients and employees.
Health Meetings
“Don’t touch me!” Nosocomial infections That was probably what George had to say to his doctor but he did not do it. Many patients do not. I was in George’s room to help fill out a health lawyer’s letter. George was alone because of the infection. Anyone could tell he was alone because of a “big” sign outside his room that warned all intruders of proper safety precautions. Safety measures include wearing a hospital gown and wearing protective gloves.
The gloves and hospital gown that I wore did not interfere with my conversation with George. What stopped us was George’s doctor who entered the room to participate in the discussion without his gloves or clothes. George’s doctor preceded me by touching everything including the patient, the bedrail and my nerve!
Yes, I understand that doctors can be very busy. The problem is that germs and viruses do not care who they attach to. My mind immediately turned to the “who” the unsuspecting patient would see next?
Vulnerable Health Consumers
“Clothes and gloves” as they call it in the hospital is time consuming but it is important to stop the spread of disease. Infected health care kills about 90,000 people a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 1.9 million people worldwide who have such ailments endure long hospital stays. About 5 to 10 percent of all hospitalized patients are infected.
Many Americans die each year from hospital-acquired diseases rather than from car accidents and combined deaths. Although this problem is well documented, the risk of contracting the disease in the hospital has gradually increased.
The good news is that health care facilities can significantly reduce infection rates significantly through effective use of infection control procedures, especially hand washing. Unfortunately, many hospitals have not yet done so. According to the National Quality Forum, most studies report hand washing compliance rates are generally less than 50 percent.
Safety strategies
Nosocomial infections With these alarming statistics in mind, here are a few steps a healthcare empowered consumer can do to reduce the chances of a hospital-acquired infection.
