Hospital acquired infections

By Christina Pratley
RN, CIC

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are infections that patients get while receiving treatment for medical or surgical conditions.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HAIs lead to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and are a major cause of illness and death.

The National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections states at any given time about 1 in every 25 inpatients has an infection related to hospital care.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made the prevention and reduction of HAIs a top priority. According to the CDC, studies suggest that performing known prevention practices can lead up to a 70 percent reduction in certain HAIs.

Some of these prevention practices are tracked, for example, many hospitals report infection information to public agencies like the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).  This information can then be used by Medicare or other insurers to measure how well hospitals are doing with prevention efforts.  Some of this information is also reported to the public on websites such as Hospital Compare, which is the official U.S. Government site for Medicare.

If you are planning a hospital stay, research your hospital on Hospital Compare or another reputable public reporting website. You may want to consider your local Critical Access Hospital (CAH) for your stay.  Maine has 16 of these smaller hospitals that are often noted by patients to have personalized, quality care.

If you are considering a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) for your stay, seek out additional helpful information by calling the hospital and asking for the Infection Prevention Department. The hospital’s Infection Preventionist will be happy to tell you what the CAH is doing to decrease patients’ risk of acquiring HAIs.

Here are a few of the things being done to decrease the risk of infection at Mayo Regional Hospital:

1.      Reduce risk of surgical site infection by giving the right antibiotic within 60 minutes of incision and stopping it within 24 hours after the surgery.

2.     Reduce the risk of catheter associated urinary tract infection by only using a catheter if really necessary, use sterile technique to put in the catheter, maintain a closed catheter system and stop the catheter as soon as possible.

3.     Reduce the risk of central line associated bloodstream infection by using the evidence-based guidelines for inserting the central line, checking every day to see if the line can be removed, and removing it as soon as possible.

4.     Reduce the risk of blood borne germ transmission by using safe injection practices as recommended by the CDC.

5.     Reduce the risk of transmission of germs on the hands of healthcare workers by cleaning hands before and after touching the patient and the patient’s environment.

Being in the hospital is difficult for everyone involved. Your CAH may have the perfect service for you, and is closer to home, family, and friends.  After researching, you may find that Mayo Regional Hospital is the best place for you to have your hospital stay.

Christina Pratley, RN, CIC, is the Infection Preventionist at Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft. She may be reached at 564-4451.