Patient Safety: MRSA and Hospital Acquired Infections

This week is Patient Safety Awareness Week, so each day I'll post to this blog about safety problems you need to be aware of, and tools you can use to keep yourself safe.

One of the worst safety problems, and among the most preventable, are nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections. You've heard some of their names: MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), also called staph aureus, and C.Diff (costridium difficile) are the most common.

Most people are surprised to learn that these pathogens are naturally found in our environment and for most of us they do no harm. But when someone has a compromised immune system, from being sick or debilitated in some way, or if they have just had surgery, which means their blood stream is readily accessible to infection, or for elderly people who are battling other health challenges, these infections too easily take hold and can cause further illness or death.

In fact, statistics tell us that about 1.7 million Americans are infected each year. Of them, almost 100,000 die from hospital acquired infections. The death numbers are actually tough to quantify because death certificates will often record the reason the person was hospitalized to begin with, and not the fact that death was the result of an infection picked up while in the hospital.

There are initiatives across the country in many states to require hospitals to begin reporting these deaths, and the numbers of people who get sick from HAIs. And later this year, hospitals will be forced to do more to stop these infections because Medicare will no longer pay for extended hospital stays or additional care needed to pay for an infection.

Savvy patients and caregivers know that insisting that healthcare workers wash and sanitize their hands is a start toward prevention. Understand, too, that the bacteria lives and hides on surfaces such as TV remotes, telephones, bedrails, chairs, bedclothes, even the doctor's stethoscope. Avoid touching them... or...

If I needed to be in the hospital, I'd take a can of Lysol or another disinfectant with me to spray on those surfaces. I don't know how well received that would be -- but personally, I'd rather have a healthcare worker get upset with me than become infected.

Bottom line -- learn about how these infections spread, then take precautions to prevent against them. It's one way to be sure you or your loved one is safer in a hospital.
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