Area hospitals join national fight to prevent deaths from patient infections

Sussex County - People go to hospitals to get well but, instead, each year two million patients in America get sick from infections they catch while in the hospital, and about 98,000 die. These grim statistics are the focus of a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Infections acquired in hospitals are the tenth highest cause of death in the United States, accounting for about 50,000 more deaths each year than automobile accidents. Newton Memorial Hospital has taken steps to make sure that doesn’t happen here in Sussex County. The hospital’s Infection Control Specialist Karen Tomlin says the hospital is on top of the situation by adopting a strict system of quality control measures that include plans to build 25 single-patient rooms. The single-patient rooms are in line with recent industry guidelines that call for such rooms as a way to reduce the rate of infections. Although many insurance companies balk at paying for private rooms, considering them a costly luxury, Newton’s Vice President for Patient Care Services Mary Ellen Rauner says that private rooms are more healthful than semi-private rooms, and they make good sense economically. Being in a private room helps patients get well faster and keeps the spread of infection down. And keeping patients infection-free cuts the length of time they stay in the hospital and decreases costs for tests and medicines. Nationwide, the cost of treating patients with hospital-acquired infections tops $3.5 billion a year. Most insurance companies pay only for semi-private rooms, but Rauner says she thinks this policy will change in the future. “Patients like the private rooms, and happy patients get well faster. Plus, private rooms make it is easier to isolate and treat patients with infectious diseases, giving us one more good way to control the spread of infection,” Rauner says, citing the many studies that have shown that infection rates are lower in private hospital rooms. In semi-private rooms, nurses and doctors are more likely to spread germs by touching surfaces, such as blood pressure cuffs and washbasin handles that several patients have touched. In addition, shared bathrooms provide more opportunity for patients to pass contagions back and forth. Even worse, deadly germs can lurk in pipes and attach to faucets and shower heads where they thrive, multiply and disperse in droplets of water. What’s more, a patient in a private room is far less likely to be confused with a roommate and receive the wrong meal or medicine. “Patients in private rooms rest better because they aren’t disturbed by their roommate’s moaning, snoring or coughing. Plus, their families can spend more time with them, and that in itself is a strong morale booster,” Rauner observes, adding that studies have shown that patient satisfaction with hospital care rises sharply when the hospital provides private rooms. All the new rooms will be what hospitals call “full service.” That means the room will contain all the equipment necessary to treat even very sick patients, including lifts, heart monitors and oxygen. In addition, four of the new rooms will be equipped for the convenience of heavy patients, who require special lifts and floor-mounted toilets. Most hospital toilets are wall-mounted. Being able to place patients in a full-service room also would cut down on the number of times they would have to be transferred. “Transferring patients is time-consuming and it is stressful for the patient,” Rauner adds. And stressed patients are more vulnerable to infection. Infants and patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer are especially vulnerable. “We agree with the new guidelines recently published by the Facilities Guidelines Institute and the American Institute of Architects’ Academy of Architecture for Health.” A new edition of the guidelines is published every four years, and more than 40 states, including New Jersey, now use the book to govern how hospitals are built. For the first time, the guidelines recommend single-patient rooms as a minimum requirement for most new hospital construction. A number of states, including New Jersey have passed or are considering bills to ensure that hospitals have standard procedures for reporting the illnesses. In New Jersey, the legislature is considering passing a bill to create a formal structure for hospitals to use in reporting hospital-acquired infections. Neither Newton Memorial nor St. Clare’s Hospital in Sussex keep specific data on the number of patients who acquire infections while in the hospital, but Newton Memorial recently won an award for going six months without having a patient in the intensive care unit contract ventilator-acquired pneumonia, one of the more common hospital-acquired infections. Rauner says that she supports laws requiring hospitals to report infections, but wants to be sure that all the hospitals follow the same reporting standards to ensure that the information is consistent and accurate. National Institute of Medicine studies estimate that well-organized infection-control programs could prevent one-third of these infections, but only six to nine percent actually are prevented. “Clean hands are the single most important factor in preventing the spread of dangerous germs in health care settings,” Tomlin says. Newton Memorial has installed a system of hand-washing units along hospital corridors and just outside and inside hospital rooms. The units dispense strong antibacterial foam, which Tomlin says everyone likes. “Every single staff member - including doctors - must go through a hand-washing training course,” Tomlin says. “The 70 percent alcohol foam kills germs and the emollients make your hands feel soft. We encourage patients to use the foam often, and we’ve found they love it and want to buy it to use at home.” S.W. Bocskocsky, vice president of St. Clare’s, says the Sussex hospital has no plans to convert to private rooms. The hospital is putting all its energy into building the new emergency department for which ground was broken at a ceremony in September 2005. “About half our 45 rooms are filled at any given time, so we don’t now see any need to install private rooms,” the vice president says. “But we are the only emergency care hospital for miles around. It can take as long as 45 minutes to get a critically ill or injured patient from Vernon to Newton.” Across the nation, consumer groups such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvements, are launching campaigns to raise public awareness and set standards for hospitals to meet. “The campaign has generated enormous momentum and energy across our nation’s hospital community, and I am optimistic that we will reach our goal of saving 100,000 lives,” said the institute president and CEO Donald M. Berwick, M.D. This month, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), to which Newton Hospital staff belong, met in Washington to work on a study that focuses on the business case for infection prevention. Not only does preventing infection save lives, it also makes good business sense for hospital financial leaders, infection-control specialists say. The results of the study will be presented at association’s 33rd Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting, which will be held June 11-14 in Tampa, Florida. And Newton Hospital staff members say they will be waiting to hear what they already know: Keeping patients safe and healthy makes sense from every perspective.