Health Care Acquired Infections – Patient Safety Education
Did you know that Health Care Associated Infections (HAI’s) are now listed as the 10th leading cause of death in the US?
These HAI’s are infections that develop during, or soon after, care in a hospital, clinic, doctor’s office, or home-visit by a health professional – they occur while people are receiving treatment for another condition. It was estimated that 1.7 million healthcare associated infections occur every year. These infections have long been recognized as a serious and preventable problem and contribute 99,000 deaths annually at a cost between $26 billion to $33 billion. These are enormous costs to patients and the healthcare insurance providers, not to mention the human toll on the patients.
In Washington State, we do not have an adequate representation of the actual number of bacterial infections that are harming patients because not all types of HAI are reported unless they occur during specific procedures where reporting is required. Current legislation is pending to remove HAIs that occur during hip and knee replacements and deep sternal wounds for cardiac surgery (including coronary artery bypass graft). This is not beneficial to the public since our population is aging and will require more of these types of surgeries in the future.
Some of the non-reportable bacteria, such as …. are the most prevalent in hospitals (patients will most likely acquire these) and need to be accounted for especially when these bacteria are preventable and can easily be transmitted to other patients.
See this link for Washington State reportable events.
Another problem is that a lot of these bacteria are now showing resistance to common antibiotics; one in particular is Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CRE has surfaced in nearly 200 US hospitals and nursing homes and kills half the people it infects; CRE is resistant to some of the strongest antibiotics made. Special precautions and reporting have been set up by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to monitor this serious.
What can each of us do to prevent hospital-acquired infections?
Patients need education, transparency and accountability from their health care provider and Department of Health. This information is essential for patient health and safety.
Patients have the right to know how their hospital is performing in preventing bacterial infections and the actual infection rates of all bacteria acquired at that hospital. It’s unacceptable that preventable bacterial infections occur; patients need the knowledge of the serious health risks they face.
Patients and doctors need to practice antibiotic stewardship. Don’t demand antibiotics when your doctor says you don’t need it; if doctors are not sure what is causing an illness (and they are pressed for time) it is common for them to just prescribe one. Question these decisions.
Washing your hands (and asking and ensuring your health care team does) helps with prevention but not in all cases. Genetic Fingerprinting capabilities at hospitals can focus on reinforcing ways to stop cross-infection from patient to patient (better compliance of hand hygiene, special precautions and investigating whether equipment is disinfected properly).
Without sufficient knowledge of the risks of bacterial infections it leaves the patient misguided, unaware, open to harm, disability and death. Patients need to be informed – hospitals, etc. need to be compliant, transparent and accountable in prevention.
