FEBRUARY 2009
Hospital Errors By DR. SYLVIA PELLISH Hospitals can be dangerous places. Don’t be passive when you check into a hospital. Take an active role in your care and treatment to cut down some of the risks. There are bacteria and viruses that can make you very, very ill and even kill you. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states there are 1.7 million health care associated infections every year. Another way of stating this is - the number of lives lost to medical errors is roughly equivalent to a World Trade Center attack every two weeks during the year. A quarter of a million deaths in hospitals nationwide were found to be preventable (the Fifth Annual Health Grades Patient Safety on American Hospitals Study, 2008.) Germs can live for many days on surfaces and can cause severe infections. Beginning three to five days before surgery, shower or bathe daily with clorhexindine soap. It can be bought without a prescription. It will help remove any dangerous bacteria you may be carrying on your skin. On the day of your operation, remind your MD that you may need an antibiotic one hour before the incision. For many types of surgery, a pre-surgical antibiotic is necessary, but is often overlooked by busy hospital staff. Ask that hospital staff clean their hands before treating you. This is the single most important way to protect you in the hospital. Don’t be falsely assured by gloves. If caregivers have pulled on gloves without cleaning their hands first, the gloves are contaminated before they touch you. Before the doctor uses a stethoscope, ask that the flat surface be wiped with alcohol. Stethoscopes are often contaminated with staph and other dangerous bacteria because caregivers seldom take time to clean them between patients use. If you need a central line catheter ask your MD about the benefits of one that is antibiotic-impregnated. Avoid using a urinary tract catheter if possible, since they often cause infections. Less than one in 10 hospitals did a daily check on their patient’s continuing need of a catheter and when it should be removed. If you must have an IV, make sure its inserted and removed under clean conditions and changed every three to four days. Your skin should be cleaned at the site of insertion, and the person treating you should be wear-
ing gloves. Medication errors plague all of health care. How can you know if a nurse is giving you the wrong medicine or the wrong dosage? Make sure the medicine is for you. Ask the nurse to compare your ID with the name on the prescription before you take it. If you are worried about being too aggressive, just remember your life is at stake. The bottom line: the best way to survive the hospital is to practice good survival skills. Medicare has stopped payment for some preventable conditions caused by poor treatment in hospitals. Patients also won’t pay. Hos-
pitals will be required to bear the cost of their own mistakes (this is since October 1, 2008). Ailments caused by lack of quality controls that result in complications for the patients: 1. Incompatible blood transfusions. 2. Procedures to retrieve tools left in a patient. 3. Injuries related to a fall while in the hospital. 4. Bed sores or pressure ulcers. 5. Infections acquired by patients while staying at a hospital. 6. Catheter associated with urinary tract infections. 7. Infections that occur at the site of surgery. 8. Bubbles of air or gas
CVE REPORTER
entering the blood stream during medical procedures This year Medicare will list three more additional hospital errors to the non payment list. Consumers Union, which has been campaigning for bet-
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ter control of hospital infections, generally approves of the new rules. They believe it is going to be a very powerful incentive for hospitals to improve care.