Patrick Brennan explains the challenges facing today’s medical staff in tackling healthcare-acquired infections.
The time has come for hand hygiene to evolve into an advanced clinical skill, emerge as the nucleus of a new patient safety culture, and provide fiscal relief in trying economic times.
Hand hygiene has become a health management imperative. The spread of communicable disease can have a devastating effect on worker absenteeism, loss of productivity, and of course the health and safety of the general population.
When each year more than 1.7 million patients in the USA acquire infections while in healthcare facilities, going back to basic steps like hand hygiene are critical for the survival of the healthcare institution.
Fact: The Centers for Disease Control estimates that in American hospitals alone, health acquired infections (HAIs) account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year.