An article in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande highlights the simple ways in which hospitals can be made less dangerous places for their patients. A checklist to make sure intensive care doctors and nurses handle catheters correctly has been proven to dramatically reduce the risk of deadly infections. Gawande focuses on the work of….
Continue ReadingStandard of Care--Hospitals
Hospitals Try to Combat MRSA
Hospitals have been getting some negative attention recently as a result of their high rates of infection. That is why it is good to hear that they are stepping up efforts to fight MRSA, one of the worst “superbugs” that infect patients in hospitals. Their efforts can be boiled down to two categories: testing and….
Continue ReadingHospital Commits 3rd Brain Surgery on the Wrong Side of the Head
Rhode Island Hospital has, for the third time this year, done a brain surgery on the wrong side of the patient’s head. The hospital has been fined $50,000 and has received a reprimand from the state Department of Health. In this most recent instance, the patient was 82 years old. Fortunately, the patient was unhurt….
Continue ReadingFighting Superbugs in Hospitals
Going to a hospital and getting even sicker is an all-too-common occurrence for many in the U.S.A., thanks to the high hospital infection rates. Indiana University School of Medicine researcher Dr. Bradley Doebbeling is using a $400,000 grant to study this problem and come up with solutions. The study will take eighteen months and will….
Continue ReadingHospital Infection Rates a Matter of Concern
Infections contracted in hospitals can be a serious threat to patients’ health. The CDC estimates that roughly two million patients per year develop infections in hospitals, out of which approximately 90,000 per year die. The Consumers’ Union discusses how many states have adopted laws requiring hospitals to disclose rates of patient infection, and how more….
Continue ReadingFewer Nurses Leads to More Pneumonia
The July 24th, 2007 issue of the New York Times Health Section discusses recent findings indicating that a lower nurse-to-patient ratio leads to more patients on respirators getting pneumonia. One of the Swiss researchers who performed the study (involving 936 patients) said that with fewer nurses, each nurse has a larger workload to shoulder and….
Continue Reading