Indiana Injury Law Blog

Basic knowledge of hand hygiene can help healthcare workers prevent deadly hospital-acquired infections. In fact, according to new research, better knowledge of hand hygiene is linked to a reduced risk of transferring infections.

The study involved nurses and infection control specialists who participated in a survey about hand hygiene. They were given 16 real-life situations, and were assessed on their ability to perceive infection risks. They were also assessed on their own perceived influence over infection risks.

The study found that all participants in the study felt that surfaces were safer to touch than patients’ skin. This is in spite of the fact that research has proved that contaminated surfaces are much more infectious than patients can. A contaminated surface can help taint the next 7 surfaces that the person touches. Contaminated surfaces known as fomites are dangerous, and many health care professionals seem to be unaware of this fact.

Indiana medical malpractice lawyers know that increasing hand hygiene compliance has been a major challenge for hospitals. Washing hands before and after inspecting a patient is one of the most basic things that doctors and nurses can do to help reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections. In some hospitals, hand hygiene compliance rates hover at an unacceptable 40%.

Hospitals are trying to increase the rates of hand hygiene compliance by installing cameras near and hand wash areas, and increasing focus on hand hygiene awareness among staff. Proper hand hygiene is not just important but critical to infection prevention. Nurses’ hands can be contaminated by simple patient safety tasks like taking blood pressure and readings, assisting patients to walk and touching IV pumps and tables.

The AHRQ report on healthcare safety has quite a few findings that Indiana medical malpractice lawyers will be concerned about. For one thing, the report shows that too many medical professionals feel concerned about possible repercussions if they report medical errors in hospitals.

According to the report titled, Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2011 User Comparative Database Report, only 44% of respondents believed that they would not be punished for reporting medical errors. That is less than half of respondents who believe that when they report medical errors, they will not suffer any consequences for it.

Most medical professionals worry that when they report medical errors, these will be mentioned in their personnel records. According to the report, only 35% of the medical professionals in the study were not concerned that their medical errors would be included in their personnel files. The majority of professionals seem to be concerned about this.

Obviously, such concerns are likely to impact the willingness of medical professionals to report medical errors. Reporting of accurate medical error data is extremely important to devise strategies to prevent these errors in the future. Therefore, it was no surprise to Indiana medical malpractice lawyers to learn that most respondents reported no adverse events in the hospital at all over the past one year. As Indiana medical malpractice attorneys, we know that medical errors occur frequently in American hospitals. The fact that 54% of respondents claim that there were no errors in their hospital over the past year, possibly suggests that these hospitals have a culture that discourages people from reporting errors.

There was some good news in the report. According to the report, 45% of respondents also reported that there were safe handoff procedures, and proper and accurate transmission of important patient information during shift changes at their hospital.

Hospitals need to take steps to convince doctors and nurses that there will be no negative consequences from reporting medical errors in order to encourage collection of vital data.

Considering the fact that most medical procedures in the United States every year are performed in outpatient clinics, Indiana medical malpractice attorneys have found it odd that there hasn't been as much focus on prevention of medical errors in these clinics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is rectifying that. The agency has released new guidelines for the prevention of errors and infections in outpatient clinics.

Outpatient settings including ambulatory care centers, endoscopy centers and primary care clinics have become the setting for most medical procedures that take place in the country every day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has known for a very long time now that infections in these centers are just as high as those at hospitals.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidelines sets standards for the prevention of errors and infections. The new guidelines include a focus on the development of infection prevention programs, supplies for hand hygiene and infection control, and the appointment of one trained individual who can supervise infection prevention programs in a hospital. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that infection prevention policies in a hospital be well defined and clearly written out.

The guidelines also have suggestions for hand hygiene compliance in ambulatory care settings, the selection and proper use of personal protection equipment, disinfection of environmental surfaces, disinfection of Medical equipment and respiratory hygiene.