A few months after having Carotid Artery Surgery, Steve Lang suddenly found himself in an ambulance headed toward the E.R. The golf ball sized lump on the side of his neck had burst. Lang had contracted MRSA, a type of HAI (Healthcare Associated Infection), after having surgery at one of the highest ranked hospitals in San Antonio, Texas.
Eight nights and $55,000.00 later, Mr. Lang was released from the hospital…
That was four years ago; and, in Lang’s words, he’s ‘lucky’. If the antibiotic cocktail didn’t take, he would have been forced to undergo a second surgery to replace the veins in his neck.
Healthcare-Associated Infections, like the one Lang contracted, account for an estimated impact of $6.7 billion to healthcare facilities each year.[i] According to statistics released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Healthcare Associated Infections “are among the leading causes of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 1.7 million [hospital] infections and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002.”[ii]
I kept telling [the doctors] they were crazy… I knew the golf ball sized lump on the side of my neck was not ‘post-operative swelling’.
The good news is that the majority of HAIs can be prevented.
We interviewed a number of medical professionals, hospital personnel, and patients to gather advice about Healthcare-Associated Infections and how to prevent them.
First, change must occur in the healthcare industry itself. Kimberly Clark has put together a website to spread the word about the prevalence of HAIs and the steps medical professionals and healthcare personnel should follow order to prevent them. The website, www.notonmywatch.com, features a variety of incredible resources for medical professionals.
Secondly, caregivers, families, and friends of a hospital patient need to become educated about HAIs, learn what to watch out for in a hospital setting, and finally must learn to speak up if they witness an activity that could put the patient at risk for an infection.
Perhaps the most helpful piece of advice we received came from a former ICU nurse. She candidly stated the following:
“Never leave anyone you love in the hospital alone.”
Why? Because doctors and nurses are human, which means they inevitably make mistakes. As an advocate for a hospital patient, you have the ability to decrease the likelihood that your loved one will be the victim of such “mistakes”.
Step 1: Someone should be in the hospital with the patient at all times.
Step 2: Double check medicines and dosages and write everything down.
Step 3: Be aware of what is going on around you. Monitor the cleanliness of every person that enters the room. Have they washed their hands? If they haven’t, do not be afraid to politely ask them if they have washed their hands upon entering the room.
Step 4: Politely Ask Questions: Ask the hospital personnel what steps are taken in the hospital to prevent Healthcare Associated Infections.
Pay particular attention to patients who have undergone surgery, have a ventilator, or currently have a catheter. The most common types of HAIs are:
- Surgical site infection (SSI)
- Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI)
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI)
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
Cancer is hard enough to beat without the addition of a Healthcare-Associated Infection. Why not take steps to ensure that you or your loved one is in good (and clean) hands?
[i] http://haiwatchnews.com/
[ii] http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/hai/index.html
About Courtney