Hospital infections are a leading cause of death among patients in American hospitals.
A few simple changes could drastically reduce infection and death:
Keep the surgery ward absolutely sterile
Fumigate the operation theater after every surgery
Autoclave or sterilize all the equipment after every surgery
Use disposal equipment whenever possible
Recovery ward should be kept clean and hygienic
Maintain the hygiene of diabetics and low immunity patients
Keep the necessary emergency drugs at hand to combat the infection effectively and promptly
Train the hospital staff in hygiene maintenance during and after surgeries
Switching from stainless steel to copper fittings could reduce spread of infection by as much as 40% according to recent reports
To tackle this serious menace, the federal government has introduced a new reporting system that will be available to the general public for evaluation. In addition, from 2013, those hospitals that have improper records and fail to follow the norms will face a 2% loss of Medicare funding. Surgery records have to be compulsorily updated and reported till the case is closed. An estimated two million contract hospitals acquired infections and spend about $6.5 billion extra to treat such affected patients.
The hospitals will now have stringent norms to follow and it has been made compulsory that they report all the cases of nosocomial infections or hospital related infections and the number of deaths thereafter. This will give an idea as to which areas and hospitals are more prone tro these types of infections and steps can be taken to curb these. Using faulty catheters, improper sterilization of tracheostomy tubes, and other methods of intervention are the major causes of hospital related infections.
