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Hospital Medicine
Catheter safeguards slash infections and hospital costs
Interventions related to central venous catheters were, on average, associated with 57% fewer bloodstream infections and substantial savings to hospitals, found a multi-centre analysis.
US...
Up to 50% of ICU stays may be unnecessary
Intensive Care Units (ICUs), which provide the most expensive and invasive forms of care in a hospital setting, are being used too often for...
New guidelines on urinary catheter use
A new guide gives doctors and nurses information to help decide which hospital patients may benefit from a urinary catheter – and which ones don’t.
Enhanced recovery programme benefits
Patients undergoing colorectal operations who participated in an enhanced recovery programme left the hospital sooner and had significantly lower hospital costs.
Hospital gastroenteritis measures lacking
Noroviruses, responsible for over 50% of global gastroenteritis cases, can spread by air up to several metres from an infected person according to a Université Laval study.
Anti-infection key steps not taken
Nearly half of US hospitals aren't taking key steps to prevent Clostridium difficile infections that kills nearly 30,000 people annually and sickens hundreds of thousands more – despite strong evidence that such steps work.
Hand washing reminder gets cold shoulder
Most patients are willing to remind health care workers to wash their hands while in the hospital, suggests a South Korea study, but doctors and nurses don't like the idea.
Patient satisfaction unaffected by remodelling
Contrary to previous studies, Johns Hopkins researchers found that patients’ satisfaction scores only modestly improved based on the newly remodelled design of a hospital.