Hospital acquired infections and specifically Methicillian-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections pose huge health risks for patients. Imagine going into the hospital for a procedure only to get a life treating infection because the hospital staff or your doctor did not wash their hands or equipment. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) estimates that hospital-acquired infections of all kinds, not just those caused by MRSA, are killing almost 100,000 Americans a year.
Colorado does require hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and dialysis centers to report cases of hospital-acquired infections to the CDC to be analyzed. Currently The Colorado Department of Health is publishing reports that include infection rates for certain cardiac and orthopedic surgical site infections and central line related infections. These reports are available for public viewing at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hf/PatientSafety/HFAI/reports.html and compare infection rates as better than nation wide, same as nation wide or worse than nation wide.
The Washington Post recently published an article that discusses a survey of 731 nurses who care for patients in the emergency rooms, critical-care units, operating rooms and other areas of the hospital. 28 % of the nurses said there were problems with cleanliness at their hospital and 26 % of the nurses surveyed said hospital staff members sometimes did not wash their hands before approaching a patient. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082402332.html
Good hand washing is the single most important element of preventing hospital-acquired infections yet it is often over looked or totally neglected during patient care – such that a single medical provider can carry infection around an entire unit, this person could be a doctor, nurse, nurse assistant, a lab or x-ray tech. - Medical Providers should always wash their hands prior to any contact with a patient or a patient’s belongings and again after that contact is complete. If you are a patient tell your health care provider to wash their hands before touching you or your belongings.
- Pennie Clor