You can beat hospital infection
By Shelley Burns
Modern Healthcare reported that a recent study indicated hospital-acquired pneumonia and sepsis resulted in 48,000 deaths and increased healthcare costs by $8.1 billion – yes, that was with a b – in 2006.
It’s an eye-popping outcome in aggregate. But if you work in healthcare you’re probably not too surprised. Controlling infection is tough in hospitals, as patients are exposed to microbes from their caregivers, visitors, and the equipment. There are thousands of places for microbes to hide – on hands and under fingernails; on telephones and computer keyboards; on scalpels and the tape that secures a catheter. Then you add the human element. That includes the improper unwrapping of a sterile package; a stressful day when someone forgets to wash their hands; or there may be an uncooperative patient; and so on. The barriers to reducing or eliminating hospital-acquired infections can seem insurmountable.
Poor quality and these hospital-acquired infections cost lives and money. But there are many ways to get to a better practice. Having the will to do so is required: for instance, outlawing artificial nails for caregivers may not be popular. Practices to prevent infection – aggressive hand hygiene, ventilator bundles, evaluating the necessity of indwelling urinary catheters, checklists – to name a few, abound.
HMC has found these measures make a demonstrable difference. Many hospitals responded to a recent HMC survey, offering good ideas, catchy slogans, unique monitoring techniques, and videos to improve hand hygiene. Additionally, several facilities participated in a recent round-table conference on the effectiveness of using checklists in the operating room and on the nursing floor. In fact, an HMC Partner hospital is leading a Web conference on how instituting a ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) bundle has resulted in six years without a case of ventilator acquired pneumonia.
Remember, taking a step every day along a pathway to improved infection control is a necessity.
Shelley Burns is director of knowledge management at HMC.
