June 7, 2012
More than two years ago, staff at the Duke Raleigh Hospital decided that something had to be done to reduce the number of deadly infections being contracted by patients in the intensive care unit. Now, according to WRAL News, those efforts are beginning to pay off as the facility announced there have been no central-line blood stream infections contracted by patients since the policy changes were implemented.
In order for the hospital to become safer for patients, the doctors, nurses, and staff decided that not only were procedure changes needed, but also a change in the way staff thought about infection. This led to the creation of an 89 point checklist in order to keep patients from being exposed to bacteria.
Staff members are now required to wash their hands more often. They must also wear gowns, masks, and gloves when in rooms with patients in the unit, as well as keeping all equipment in a single, sterilized location. More importantly though, patients receive antiseptic baths before procedures and receive more barriers of infection protection on their bodies where procedures are taking place.
With such a high rate of success, the staff hopes that other hospitals will soon use the procedure to better protect patients.
The North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers with HensonFuerst Injury Lawyers would like to applaud Duke Raleigh Hospital for protecting patients from infections that could result in medical malpractice claims.
