GUIDE TO BEING A SAFE PATIENT OR CAREGIVER

• In most situations, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer to clean your hands. Hand sanitizer comes as liquid, gel, or foam and is available from dispensers located throughout the hospital.
• Wash hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, when they are visibly dirty, and before touching food or drinks.
• Clean hands before entering and after exiting a patient’s room, after sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose, and before touching food or drinks.

Patient prompts:

“Where is the hand sanitizer dispenser?”

“How can I clean my hands from my bed?”

“Are there any special instructions I should follow?”

“Are there any special instructions I should tell my visitors?”

To anyone who enters your room or cares for you:

“The hospital has told me to remind everyone to clean their hands before coming in the room.”

Ask doctors and nurses why the medical devices that you have are needed and when they can be removed:
These medical devices may include indwelling urinary catheters, intravenous catheters (IVs), peripheral IVs, central venous catheters, surgical drains, and endotracheal tubes. If you are caring for someone with a medical device who cannot speak, ask when the device can be removed.

• Fever
• Unusual pain, tenderness, redness, or swelling around the location of your medical device or your surgicalwound
• Signs of dehydration (peeing less than normal, fewer wet diapers than usual, dry mouth or throat, head pain, crying with few or no tears).

• Take medicines exactly as prescribed.
• Follow any specific instructions for bathing and taking care of your mouth (oral care).
• Clean your hands often.
• Get all the vaccines that are recommended for you.
• Have those who live with you or visit you clean their hands often.
• Understand how to care for any medical devices that you take home.
• If you had surgery, understand how to care for your wound.
• Have a list of who on your healthcare team to contact if you have questions or problems.
• Follow all care instructions.
• If you develop new symptoms or if symptoms return, contact your healthcare team immediately.

• Fever
• Bladder or pelvic pain or tenderness
• Bladder fullness
• Bloody urine
• After catheter has been removed, persistent urge to pee, leaking pee, or peeing in small amounts.

• Ask about other methods for bladder management.
• Ask when the catheter can be removed.
• Always keep the urine bag below the level of your bladder.
• Do not twist, tug, or pull on the catheter tubing.
• Notify a healthcare professional immediately if you notice the catheter is leaking.

• Fever
• Chills
• Tenderness, redness, swelling, warmth, red streaks, or drainage at the IV site
• Unusual fatigue
• A wet, dirty, or loose bandage where the IV enters the skin
• If the IV was pulled or is no longer secure.

• Ask when the IV can be removed.
• Ask if you can shower with the IV in place and if so, what instructions to follow.
• Ask if you will need to use antiseptic wipes or other skin cleansing products.
• Ask whether there are additional instructions for taking care of your mouth (oral care).

• Difficulty swallowing or a risk of aspirating (breathing in) food or drinks
• Fever
• Chills
• Cough
• Vomiting
• Shortness of breath or hard and fast breathing
• Chest pain.

• Has difficulty swallowing, a risk of aspirating (inhaling) food or drinks.
• Any symptoms.

• Ask a healthcare professional whether they should raise the head of the bed.
• Ask if the level of sedation is appropriate.
• Ask when exercise and mobilization can begin.
• Ask if you can brush the patient’s teeth.
• Ask when tube feeding can begin.
• Ask when the patient can try breathing on their own.
• Ask when you can help the nurse or physical therapist get the patient to move.
• For pediatric patients, ask about symptoms of possible fluid overload.

A surgical site infection (SSI) is an infection that occurs after surgery, usually in the part of the body where the surgery took place.

Tell a healthcare professional if you have:

• Fever
• Cloudy fluid draining from your surgical wound
• Redness, pain, warmth, tenderness, swelling, or a bad odor at your surgical wound.

Follow the Steps to Prevent HAIs. Before your surgery also:

• Tell your doctor about any medical problems you have. Health problems like allergies or diabetes could affect your surgery and your treatment.
• Ask your doctor if there are specific instructions for bathing prior to surgery. You may be asked to shower, or you may be wiped or bathed with a special antiseptic before surgery.
• Ask if you will get antibiotics before surgery.
• If you are having a heart, brain, or spine surgery, ask if you need to be screened for MRSA.
• Do not shave near where you will have the surgery. Shaving with a razor can irritate your skin and make you more vulnerable to an infection.
• Confirm with your healthcare team that you will not be shaved with a razor. Your surgeon may need to remove some of your hair before your surgery. Hair removal should be done immediately before the surgery with electric clippers.
• Only allow healthcare professionals to touch the surgical wound or dressings. Patients, visitors, and family members should not touch the surgical wound or dressing while the patient is in the hospital.

Patient prompt:

When receiving instructions before a surgery, ask,
“Will I get antibiotics for this surgery? If so, when will I get them and when will they be stopped?”

• Staphylococcus aureus or “staph” can infect wounds in the skin, cause pneumonia, or cause infections of the blood.
• MRSA is a type of staph that cannot be killed by some of the antibiotics used to treat staph infections.
• People commonly carry MRSA on their skin or in their nose without developing an infection.
• The chance of getting an MRSA infection from visiting a person who has MRSA is low. Still, MRSA can spread on equipment, room surfaces, and on the hands of healthcare professionals and visitors. Visitors should follow instructions carefully if a patient has an MRSA infection.

• Fever
• Chills
• A bump or infected area on the skin that may be red, swollen, or full of pus or discharge
• Headache
• Chest pain
• Cough or shortness of breath.

• Visitors may be asked to wear disposable gowns and gloves during the visit. Requirements for wearing gowns and gloves may vary by facility. If visitors are asked to wear gloves, they should clean their hands before and after using them.
• Ask visitors to perform hand hygiene before entering and after exiting your hospital room.
• After returning home:
  • Use hot water to wash clothes and bed linens.
  • Wash dishes with soap and water and dry them.
  • Tell anyone else who is caring for you that you have an MRSA infection (for example, home health nurses and aides, therapists, and doctors’ offices).

• Fever
• Watery or bloody diarrhea
• Belly pain and tenderness
• Loss of appetite
• Signs of dehydration (peeing less than normal or fewer wet diapers than usual, dry mouth or throat, head pain, crying with few or no tears).

• Visitors may be asked to wear disposable gowns and gloves during the visit. Requirements for wearing gowns and gloves may vary by facility. If visitors are asked to wear gloves, they should clean their hands before and after using them.
• Ask your visitors to not use the bathroom in your hospital room.
• Ask visitors to clean their hands before entering and after exiting your hospital room.
• After returning home:
  1. Use hot water to wash clothes and bed linens.
  2. Wash dishes with soap and water and dry them.
  3. Use a separate bathroom if you have diarrhea. If a separate bathroom is not available, be sure the bathroom is cleaned well after you use.
  4. Tell anyone else who is caring for you that you have C. diff (for example, home health nurses and aides, therapists, and doctors’ offices).

Patient prompts: