My wife recently went into the hospital for the first time in her - our - life. I spent hours on Google looking at ways to make sure the hospitalization was part of the solution, and not a new and potentially deadly part of the problem.
When she left, the staff was really happy. I think it was not because they had helped her get better, but that we were leaving period. We had been, to be brutally honest, a royal pain in the ass. Demanding. Assertive. Refusing certain procedures, Even telling Doctors (!) what we would let them do and NOT do to her. After all, it is her body. Try and remember this if you ever go into the hospital. It's all about coming out better than when you went in, and not about being winning any popularity contests with the staff.
It's impossible not to have heard the horror stories where a perfectly healthy person checks into a hospital to undergo a routine procedure, and never comes out. We tend to forget these stories rather quickly because they seem anomalous with our mental picture of a hospital. After all, it's the place to go to try and get better not sicker and die, especially if what you went in for was a routine procedure. Still, 100,000 people die every year from the infections they contract in hospitals. It took me days of research and some inside information to finally get that number. When I held it up against the other ways large numbers of Americans die, these infections are the fourth largest killer in the United States.
Let me say that again to get your full attention: These infections are the fourth largest killer in the United States.The other three have lobbyists in Washington, national and even international non-profit groups that try and educate the public, and websites galore. Not this one.
While these Hospital Infection Death statistics are collected, the healthcare and hospital industry have managed to keep the numbers to themselves. It's a closely guarded secret. The 800-pound gorilla riding on the back of the elephant in the hospital room. Many states collect data on infections that lead to serious injury or death. Nearly every state allows the data to remain secret. The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also collect infection data from hospitals across the nation. They also refuse to make it public.
Ideally you would choose a hospital with a low infection rate. But with all the secrecy surrounding the numbers, good luck trying to learn that information. Instead, you can act as your own Health Advocate, and take a few simple steps to dramatically reduce your chances of picking up a life-threatening infection in a hospital.
Here are a few simple rules that really could save your life. Remember they won't make you popular but it's your choice. Being the most popular recently deceased patient on the ward, or getting home alive:
1. Request every staff person including doctors and surgeons to wash their hands with an antiseptic solution or hand-wipe BEFORE examining or treating you. Independent audits and research indicate that busy doctors and overworked staff clean their hands before treating a patient only 48 percent of the time. The rate is significantly worse at some hospitals. Don't let gloves fool you. Gloves protect the caregiver, not the patient. Gloves spread germs once contaminated. So there's a 50/50 chance that your getting the last examined or treated sick patient's germs to add to whatever ails you unless you request germ-free hands on (or in) your body.
2. Request the doctor or nurse wash and clean the stethoscope or other equipment with alcohol before examining you. This should be routine, but is as frequently overlooked as hand washing as they rushes from room to room, patient to patient. The healthcare system measures the number patients seen per hour, so rushing is currently built into the healthcare system. It's up to you to say "Stop."
3. Beginning one week before surgery, clean as many germs off your body as you can every day. If you can, try taking frequent showers using chlorhexidine or other type of antibacterial soap (available at almost any pharmacy). Use plenty of hot water. Ask for help if you need it.
4. Good luck but try to learn your surgeon's "infection rate." If the surgeon will not tell you this information, it's time to worry. Good surgeons are proud of their skill and success rate. So if you cannot find the infection rate by asking or digging, assume your surgeon has a poor track record, and find another surgeon. Remember, this is surgery. They are going to cut and go into your body. You deserve the best, and unless you find the best, it's like a lottery. Who's available, who's not playing golf that day, is it a weekend (try and avoid scheduling weekend surgery at all costs since the interns are often up at bat). You get the picture.
5. Avoid a urinary catheter if at all possible. Far too many times such a device is inserted routinely for staff convenience, not for medical reasons. Less visits to the bathroom means less helping you and emptying bedpans and such. A catheter is a common cause of infection and if left in long enough, an infection is nearly inevitable. If you can get out of bed and get to the bathroom. and the purpose is only to keep a staff person from having to assist you, refuse this procedure. Again, living a healthy life after getting out of the hospital trumps being the nicest person on the ward.
6. Do not allow any part of your body to be shaved before surgery. Think about it. You probably shave some part of your body. Shaving results in small nicks and cuts that allow infection to enter. If hair must be removed, tell them that you want it to be done with clippers, not a razor. It's more of a pain for the nurse, but less dangerous for you. Surgeons need to be able to see the field of surgery, not compare it to a baby's bottom.
7. Request that your surgeon limit the number of people in the operating room to the ones that need to be there for the operation. Especially in teaching hospitals, observing medical students and others are often present. The more people in the room, the higher the risk of infection.
If you think you might be unable to make sure these rules are followed, appoint a person who can intervene for you. Make sure the staff and the doctors all know that this person is in control and is carrying out your wishes. Make it legal if you need to go that far. If managing your health care in this way seems too aggressive to you, remember that going home from the hospital in better shape than when you entered is much more important than trying to win the contest for Most Popular Patient.
