A fundamental purpose of the nation’s hospital system is to provide places for the
treatment of disease. As such, patient acquisition of disease while hospitalized presents
a disturbing health care dilemma. Approximately 37 million Americans are hospitalized
annually,
1
over 15 million of whom arrive through emergency departments.
2
Of those hospitalized, 1.7 million acquire an infection during their stay, 99,000
of whom die from those infections,
3
resulting in a mortality rate that is double the annual number of deaths on all of
our nation’s highways combined.
4
With over 119 million ED patient visits in the United States annually and ED admissions
constituting over 40% of hospital admissions, emergency departments are opportunistic
environments for the control of hospital-acquired infection.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- 2005 National hospital discharge survey.Adv Data. 2007; (Accessed March 30, 2008): 1-19
- Ambulatory medical care utilization estimates for 2006.Natl Health Stat Report. 2006; (Accessed March 13, 2009): 1-29
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- Traffic safety facts: 2006 data. DOT HS 810 809 (updated March 2008).(Accessed March 12, 2009)
- Microbiology: An Introduction. 5th ed. Benjamin/Cummings, Redwood City, CA1995: 373-382
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- Facts about hospital accreditation.(Published January 7, 2009. Accessed March 12, 2009)
- 2009 Comprehensive accreditation manual for hospitals (CAMH): The official handbook. ISBN 978-1-59940-213-0.(Accessed March 12, 2009)
- Accreditation program: Hospital national patient safety goals. 2009 National patient safety goals manual chapter.(Published 2008. Accessed April 16, 2009)
- Efficacy of handrubbing with alcohol based solution versus standard hand washing with antiseptic soap: Randomized clinical trial.BMJ. 2002; 325: 362
- Patient hand washing practice.Nurs Times. 1988; 84: 68-72
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Biography
Eric Larsen is Registered Nurse, Urgent Care, Olympia Medical Center, Olympia, WA.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 20, 2009
Footnotes
Earn Up to 8.5 CE Hours. See page 598.
Section Editors: Reneé Semonin-Holleran, RN, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN, and Andrew Harding, RN, MS, CEN, NEA-BC
Submit descriptions of procedures in emergency care and/or quick-reference charts suitable for placing in a reference file or notebook to
Reneé Semonin-Holleran, RN, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN
or
Andrew Harding, RN, MS, CEN, NEA-BC
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
