Guide to Hospital Acquired Infections Brought to You by The
MATER PRIVATE HOSPITAL.
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What do we mean by hospital acquired infection?
The definition of a
hospital acquired infection (HAI), also known as a 'Nosocomial' infection, is an infection acquired during hospital care which was not present or incubating at the time of admission. It is thought that one of the major causes of HAIs is "hot bedding" - when a patient's bed and surrounding area is not vacant long enough for proper cleaning, due to hospital staff being under pressure to meet increasing targets.
In addition, a long length of stay in a healthcare setting makes patients more vulnerable to infection and large wards with a stream of emergency admittances make it difficult for wards to be thoroughly cleaned.
People go into hospital with the expectation of getting better, but anxiety about contracting a HAI during their time in hospital is causing many to take out
private medical insurance or pay directly for private healthcare in Ireland, or abroad, because infection rates are much lower, and in some cases
non existent in private hospitals.
The reasons for lower rates in private hospitals is multi-factorial and includes reasons such as lower bed occupancy, reduced emergency admissions, more availability of single rooms and ensuite rooms and lower lengths of stay
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