Study Finds Hospital Acquired Infections Greatly Impact ICU Deaths

Hospitals

I came across a really interesting study of hospitals in the United States. Lately I have been discussing a lot of legal-heavy topics in my posts, so I want to lighten up today’s post with something more digestible. But don’t be fooled—this is actually quite scary!

The study made some alarming findings. Most shocking, it found that patients who receive a hospital-acquired infection are FOUR TIMES more likely to die in the hospital than patients who do not get these infections. The obvious answer is that these patients die more frequently because they have an added ailment; an infection. However, we do know that hospital infections are generally more serious and even antibiotic resistant. This adds to the lethality of the infection. The study also included that the length of stay for ICU patients nearly doubled when they suffered from a hospital-acquired infection; from eight days to fifteen!

The largest culprits for these infections were medical devices or instruments. Particularly were catheters or mechanical ventilation devices the epicenter of hospital-acquired infections. In fact, these tripled the risk of acquiring an infection in the hospital when one of these devices were used! TRIPLED!

Of course, this brings up costs. ICU are incredibly expensive. The fact that patients are spending almost double the amount of time in the ICU because of an infection which was CAUSED by the hospital is what is really troubling.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! I welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.