yet more from copd newsletter

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REDUCING THE RISK OF INFECTION DURING HOSPITAL

STAYS

Hospital-acquired infections encompass almost all

clinically evident

infections that do not originate from patient's

original admitting

diagnosis. Within hours after admission, a

patient's flora begins to acquire

characteristics of the surrounding bacterial

pool. Most infections that

become clinically evident after 48 hours of

hospitalization are considered

hospital-acquired. Infections that occur after

the patient's discharge from

the hospital can be considered to have a

nosocomial origin if the organisms

were acquired during the hospital stay. Within

hours of admission, colonies

of hospital strains of bacteria develop in the

patient's skin, respiratory

tract, and genitourinary tract. Risks factors for

the invasion of colonizing

pathogens can be categorized into 3 areas:

iatrogenic, organizational, and

patient related.

Iatrogenic risk factors include invasive

procedures (eg, intubation,

indwelling vascular lines, urine catheterization)

and antibiotic use and

prophylaxis. Organizational risk factors include

contaminated

air-conditioning systems, contaminated water

systems, and staffing and

physical layout of the facility (eg,

nurse-to-patient ratio, open beds close

together). Patient risk factors include the

severity of illness, underlying

immunocompromised state, and length of stay.

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1619.htm

HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED INFECTIONS RISING

Hospital-acquired infections are worsening in the

United States, even though

the problem is widely recognized.And the problem

of such infections provides

a good indication of which hospitals are prone to

errors overall,

saysColorado-based Health Grades Inc, Health

Grades, which evaluates the

quality of hospitals, physicians and nursing

homes, found more than 300,000

patients died after suffering some sort of

adverse, hospital-related

incident in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

" Hospital-acquired infections correlated most

highly with overall

performance and performance on the other 12

patient safety incidents,

suggesting that hospital-acquired infection rates

could be used as a proxy

of overall hospital patient safety, " the report

reads. But many hospitals

emerged with good overall records on patient

safety, the report found. They

seem to have a " culture of safety " , said Health

Grades Vice President of

Medical Affairs Dr. Collier. " A 'culture

of safety' requires rapid

identification of errors and root causes and the

successful implementation

of improvement strategies, which can only be

achieved with strong

leadership, critical thinking, and commitment to

excellence. For patients,

it's important to know which hospitals meet this

standard, as they are

nearly 200 percent less likely to have an

incident at hospitals in the top

10 percent, according to the Health Grades

study. "

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7700998/

See how your hosptial rates on patient safety::

http://www.healthgrades.com/

Doris2 has completed an extensive list of

services she would seek in the

hopes of reducing our risk of infection during

surgeries or other hospital

stays. She says that as COPD patients we are a

vulnerable population. Space

does not permit complete inclusion of her

research but she has been kind

enough to share her resources which are:

http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/5steps.htm

http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/162214

http://www.freep.com/news/health/pat23_20040223.htm

http://cbs2chicago.com/health/health_story_300114746.html

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/infection-control/ICManual/icmhand\

hygiene.cfm

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