When Washing Scrubs Isn’t Enough If You Are In the ICU

With Connecticut hospitals being some of the worst for patient acquired infections, there is new research to support that hospital acquired infections are still running rampant, especially in the intensive care unit (ICU). The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, found that extremely dangerous bacteria can be transmitted on nurses’ uniforms.

This bacteria, pneumonia-causing, MRSA and others, were found on nurse scrubs and inside patient rooms. Nurse scrubs and patients rooms were tested over the course of 120 work shifts. The research found 22 transmissions of the same bacteria between 40 nurses and 167 ICU patients. Twenty seven percent of the transfers were from patient to nurse while another 27% were from room to nurse. Bacteria was never transmitted from nurse to patient. Forty five percent of the transmissions were from patient to the room.

There were some very interesting observations made by the researchers. For those patients who were isolated in ICU environments with these superbug bacterial infections, nursing staff still must wear disposable gowns and masks to care for them. This bacteria is getting out of these units by contamination when the disposable gowns are removed by the nurses. According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 2 million patients each year are infected by these bacteria and over 23,000 die because of these infections.

If your loved one contracted a hospital acquired infection that resulted in death, please call our office. Our Connecticut medical malpractice team includes experienced attorneys and paralegals including Bob Messey, MD, JD and Gayle Sullivan, RN, JD. They will begin an immediate medical and legal investigation into your case.