A Lot of Times We Find Blood Fluid Surprising How We Get On There Each Year

Every year, we find that 648,000 hospital patients are infected with bacteria during their stay, and unfortunately, this results in 75,000 deaths. This staggering number highlights the importance of taking preventative measures to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Hospital Infection Rates: Only 6% of Hospitals Receive Top Scores

Consumer Reports has released exclusive new ratings on hospital infection rates, revealing that only 6% of hospitals have received top scores for preventing MRSA and C. difficile, two of the most serious infections plaguing hospitals today. This is a concerning statistic, as it suggests that many hospitals are not taking adequate measures to prevent these types of infections.

Six Ways You Can Protect Yourself in the Hospital

Staff at Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth in Chicago have helped demonstrate six ways you can protect yourself in the hospital. Firstly, know the areas in your hospital room most likely to be infected with germs and be sure to wash your hands after touching them. These bed rails go up and down several times a day, providing enclosed proximity to the patient if they are draining wounds, which can lead to a high number of bacteria.

Another high-touch area is the IV intravenous hole at the head of the bed, which is also touched by nurses, respiratory therapists, and computer monitors. Additionally, vital signs monitoring requires the use of keyboards, further increasing the risk of infection. It's essential to take these precautions seriously to minimize your exposure to harmful germs.

The Risks of Prolonged Use of Medical Equipment

A catheter, ventilator, or central line can be critical to your care, but prolonged use is linked to serious infections. If you have a foreign object inside your body, it's always going to be a risk for infection. That's why we encourage patients to ask their nurse or doctor why they need the equipment at that time and how long they should be using it.

It's okay to ask every day, as the longer you have these types of tubes, the more risk there is of infection. The sooner these devices are removed, the less risk for patient infection. By taking an active role in your care, you can reduce your exposure to potentially harmful equipment and minimize the risk of infection.

Surgery Preparations: Electric Shavers Over Razors

If you're being prepped for surgery, make sure the hospital uses an electric shaver instead of a razor. Skin preparations are necessary for some procedures, allowing surgeons to visualize the site they will be performing surgery on. However, razors can cause skin breaks, which bacteria might not even notice but could still penetrate the skin barrier and lead to infections.

Testing for MRSA or C. difficile is as simple as a nasal swab

Testing for MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) or C. difficile (Clostridioides difficile) can be done with a quick nasal swab. Knowing if you have either of these infections can inform your care, allowing doctors and nurses to take necessary precautions to prevent further transmission.

The Importance of Open Communication

Speaking openly about private subjects concerning your body is a common difficulty among patients, but it's key to getting the best treatment. Patients should not hold back on any kind of signs or symptoms they've had or anything they're worried about or the questions they need answers to. It's your body, and you have the right to know what's going on.

The Power of Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene is probably the number one simple initiative that anyone can do to prevent cross-contamination and infection. By emphasizing hand washing, we believe it creates the greatest impact. We tell our patients, "It's the right to ask your nurse, doctor, or any hospital staff if they wash their hands before giving you care."

We Make Hand Hygiene a Priority

We make hand hygiene a priority by monitoring that people thoroughly wash their hands before entering patient rooms and after completing patient care. Hospitals with clear protocols on cleanliness, drug usage, and infection reporting score well in our recent ratings.

Join Our Fight for Zero Infection Standard

Join us in our fight to hold all hospitals to a zero-infection standard at consumerreports.org. Together, we can work towards creating safer environments for patients and reducing the burden of hospital-acquired infections.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ena lot of times we find blood fluid you were surprise how we get on the there each year 648,000 hospital patients are infected during their stay due to bacteria and 75,000 die with those infections Consumer Reports exclusive new ratings on hospital infection rates found only 6% of hospitals receed top scores for preventing MCA and ciff two of the most serious infections plaguing hospitals today staff at Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth in Chicago helped demonstrate six ways you can protect yourself in the hospital first know the areas in your hospital room most likely to be infected with germs and be sure to wash your hands after touching them so these bed rails go up and down several times a day they're enclosed proximity to the patient if they are draining wounds this will be a very close to those wounds and potentially acquire a high number of bacteria another high touch area would be the IV intravenous hole that we have at the head of the bed the same thing goes for the vital science monitor again this is being touched by the nurses by the respiratory therapist and also the computer monitor and the keyboard which we use for charting documenting dispensing medication and vital signs while in the room this will be another are area where we could have potentially many many harmful germs a catheter ventilator central line or IV may be critical to your care but prolonged use is linked to Serious infections if you have a foreign object inside your body that's always going to be a risk for infection and this is why we encourage our patients to ask the nurse or the doctor why we need it at that time and how long they should be having it and it is okay to ask every day so the longer the patient has those types of tubes the the more risk there the sooner we can get those those things removed the less risk for patient infection if you're being prepped for surgery make sure the hospital uses an electric shaver not a razor skin preparations are necessary for some procedures for the surgeons to visualize the site that they will be performing surgery on the Clippers are not necessarily sharp so it will not produce any cut or Nick shaving with razors cause uh skin breaks they might be minute might not even notice it but bacteria sitting on the skin would know and they would be able to penetrate the Skin Barrier and cause infections testing for MRSA or Mera is as simple as a nasal swab and knowing if you have it can inform your care because Mera is resistant to many antibiotics otherwise known as a super bug you may need to ask to be tested if it's it's not routine at your hospital in the view of our burden of infections overall it is very important for both the patient and the physician to know what they are dealing with if they're colonized with MRSA or not in the Intensive car we do see patients with mura when we get those types of patients we have to be extra diligent making sure that we monitor how we take care of those patients so that we don't cross-contaminate another another patient and that we don't put ourselves at risk speaking openly about private subjects concerning your body is a common difficulty among patients but it is key to getting the best treatment patients should not hold back on any kind of signs and symptoms they've had or anything they're worried about or the questions they need answers to it's your body and so you have a right to know I think it helps with a relationship between physician and the patient it helps both parts understanding the process and it also helps with the outcomes it is your right as a patient to ask everyone who gives you care to wash their hands the main documented way of transmission of infections in the hospital would be through the hands of healthcare providers that's why we emphasize hand hygiene so much because we believe this is an easy simple intervention that would create the greatest impact and we tell our patient it's the right to ask their nurse their doctor or any any Hospital staff if they wash their hands before actually giving them care hand washing is probably the number one um initiative that anybody can do to prevent uh cross-contamination and infection so we we make we make it in a priority that we Monitor and we make sure that people thoroughly wash their hands before they enter a patient room as well as after they're done with patient care hospitals that scored well at preventing infection have clear protocols on cleanliness drug usage and infection reporting see how hospitals in your community comparing preventing infections in our recent ratings and join our fight to hold all hospitals to a zero infection standard at consumerreports.org superbugsa lot of times we find blood fluid you were surprise how we get on the there each year 648,000 hospital patients are infected during their stay due to bacteria and 75,000 die with those infections Consumer Reports exclusive new ratings on hospital infection rates found only 6% of hospitals receed top scores for preventing MCA and ciff two of the most serious infections plaguing hospitals today staff at Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth in Chicago helped demonstrate six ways you can protect yourself in the hospital first know the areas in your hospital room most likely to be infected with germs and be sure to wash your hands after touching them so these bed rails go up and down several times a day they're enclosed proximity to the patient if they are draining wounds this will be a very close to those wounds and potentially acquire a high number of bacteria another high touch area would be the IV intravenous hole that we have at the head of the bed the same thing goes for the vital science monitor again this is being touched by the nurses by the respiratory therapist and also the computer monitor and the keyboard which we use for charting documenting dispensing medication and vital signs while in the room this will be another are area where we could have potentially many many harmful germs a catheter ventilator central line or IV may be critical to your care but prolonged use is linked to Serious infections if you have a foreign object inside your body that's always going to be a risk for infection and this is why we encourage our patients to ask the nurse or the doctor why we need it at that time and how long they should be having it and it is okay to ask every day so the longer the patient has those types of tubes the the more risk there the sooner we can get those those things removed the less risk for patient infection if you're being prepped for surgery make sure the hospital uses an electric shaver not a razor skin preparations are necessary for some procedures for the surgeons to visualize the site that they will be performing surgery on the Clippers are not necessarily sharp so it will not produce any cut or Nick shaving with razors cause uh skin breaks they might be minute might not even notice it but bacteria sitting on the skin would know and they would be able to penetrate the Skin Barrier and cause infections testing for MRSA or Mera is as simple as a nasal swab and knowing if you have it can inform your care because Mera is resistant to many antibiotics otherwise known as a super bug you may need to ask to be tested if it's it's not routine at your hospital in the view of our burden of infections overall it is very important for both the patient and the physician to know what they are dealing with if they're colonized with MRSA or not in the Intensive car we do see patients with mura when we get those types of patients we have to be extra diligent making sure that we monitor how we take care of those patients so that we don't cross-contaminate another another patient and that we don't put ourselves at risk speaking openly about private subjects concerning your body is a common difficulty among patients but it is key to getting the best treatment patients should not hold back on any kind of signs and symptoms they've had or anything they're worried about or the questions they need answers to it's your body and so you have a right to know I think it helps with a relationship between physician and the patient it helps both parts understanding the process and it also helps with the outcomes it is your right as a patient to ask everyone who gives you care to wash their hands the main documented way of transmission of infections in the hospital would be through the hands of healthcare providers that's why we emphasize hand hygiene so much because we believe this is an easy simple intervention that would create the greatest impact and we tell our patient it's the right to ask their nurse their doctor or any any Hospital staff if they wash their hands before actually giving them care hand washing is probably the number one um initiative that anybody can do to prevent uh cross-contamination and infection so we we make we make it in a priority that we Monitor and we make sure that people thoroughly wash their hands before they enter a patient room as well as after they're done with patient care hospitals that scored well at preventing infection have clear protocols on cleanliness drug usage and infection reporting see how hospitals in your community comparing preventing infections in our recent ratings and join our fight to hold all hospitals to a zero infection standard at consumerreports.org superbugs\n"