One would think this would be mandatory. Nope. Pennsylvania hospitals are the only ones in the States that are required to disclose hospital-induced infections leading to death - nosocomial infections we medical folks call it. Big words make us sound smart when all we do is cause the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. What?! Yep. Doctors and Hospitals rank #3 for leading cause of death in the USA. Why? Nosocomial infections. And only good ol' PA is required to disclose how many infections they cause. One hospital that I saw on PBS about this had 90 deaths in a month - a month - from hospital borne infections. Why? The Chief Medical Officer went around sniffing out the problem and discovered that nurses, techs and whoever else all washed their hands differently or - not at all. He demanded that in 90 days there be a serious reduction in nosocomial infections leading to death. He did this by - educating all - all - hospital staff how to properly wash hands.
- placing reminder signs on hospital doors to wash hands
- placing other related signs on medical equipment and patients room doors
- installing many more hand sanitizers
What happened then?In 7 days only, there were zero hospital caused deaths by nosocomial infections. Only 7 days. In a year, that hospital only had 1 nosocomial infection that led to death. Makes you wonder doesn't it? A classmate of mine saw a nurse debriding - removing dead tissue - from a patient without gloves on her hands. Try to find out how many nosocomial infections leading to death are in your hospital. If you cannot, write your congressperson. We need to know. If we demand the right to know, then I bet you that nosocomial infections leading to death will no longer be the 3rd leading cause of death. It may be the 300th - where it should be. In health, Ben (c) 2005 Benjamin Lynch of HealthE Goods |
