How to reduce your risk of hospital infections
1. Ask that hospital staff clean their hands before treating you, and ask visitors to clean their hands too. Don’t be falsely assured by gloves. If caregivers have pulled on gloves without cleaning their hands first, the gloves are already contaminated before they touch you.
2. If you’re visiting a friend or loved one, don’t bring candy and flowers. Instead, bring a canister of bleach wipes. Wiping down the surfaces around the bed, including the rails, call button and television controls, will remove dangerous bacteria that could cause an infection.
3. If you need a “central line” catheter, ask your doctor about the benefits of one that is antibiotic-impregnated or silver-chlorhexidine coated to reduce infections.
4. If you need surgery, choose a surgeon with a low infection rate. Surgeons know their rate of infection for various procedures. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.
5. Twenty-four hours before surgery, shower or bathe with a chlorhexidine soap, which is available at drugstores under different product names, among them Hibiclens. Some patient safety advocates recommend bathing with this soap three to five days before surgery.
6. Ask your surgeon to have you tested for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at least one week before you go to the hospital. There is evidence that screening for MRSA prior to a surgery and treating a positive screen with topical antibiotics and chlorhexidine can reduce the incidence of post-operative surgical site infections.
7. Stop smoking well in advance of surgery. Patients who smoke are three times as likely to develop a surgical site infection as nonsmokers.
8. On the day of your operation, remind your doctor that you may need an antibiotic one hour before the first incision. For many types of surgery, a pre-surgical antibiotic is the standard of care, but it is often overlooked by busy staff.
9. Ask your doctor about keeping you warm during surgery. Operating rooms are often cold, but for many types of surgery, patients who are kept warm resist infection better. This can be done with special blankets, hats and booties, and warmed IV liquids.
10. Do not shave the surgical site. Razors can create small nicks in the skin, through which bacteria can enter. If hair must be removed before surgery, ask that clippers be used instead of a razor.
Sources: The Connecticut-based non-profit Committee to Reduce Infectious Deaths and Dr. Sean P. Elliott, director of infection prevention at Banner-University Medical Center Tucson
