The Patient Survival Guide; 8 Simple Solutions to Prevent Hospital- and Healthcare-Associated Infections

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1.7 million patients developed healthcare acquired infections in 2010, resulting in over 100,000 deaths, adding extra days hospital stays, and costing our already broken health care system 35 to 50 billion dollars. Infections after surgery account for 20% of these healthcare acquired infections; according to CDC statistics, every year over 8,000 patients die of these infections. We also know that if you get a surgical site infection, you are five times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital after you’ve been sent home. Since most people spend only a small part of their lives in healthcare facilities, this guidebook also tells readers how to avoid picking up serious infections in day care centers, schools, business offices, and other common locations. Unlike other books, which focus on how to change the hospital systems,If Only They Had Told Me focuses on patient protection. If Only They Had Told Me empowers readers with the knowledge and techniques to ensure a safer healthcare experience when the need arises to seek medical help. Since most people spend only a small part of their lives in healthcare facilities, this guidebook wouldn’t be complete without telling readers how to avoid picking up serious infections in day care centers, schools, business offices, and other common locations. If Only They Had Told Me Will: Inspire you to be a patient advocate Describe in vivid detail how your preparation and informed vigilance can significantly reduce the chances of harm and death to your loved one in a hospital Provide specific, practical, and outside-the-box strategies for anticipating and preventing errors, with chapters devoted to each of the most common mistakes and mishaps Provide various checklists for patients to use upon admission to healthcare facilities

Dr. Maryanne McGuckin has over 35 years of experience as a faculty and staff member of University of Pennsylvania. Currently she is a Senior Scholar in Health Policy Department at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Dr. McGuckin’s specialty is infection control and hospital epidemiology. Dr. McGuckin created the Partners in Your Care program, a hand hygiene program which combines monitoring and patient empowerment and is used in several hundred hospitals in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. McGuckin served on the 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) task force that developed Hand Hygiene Guidelines for Healthcare Workers, and currently is a member of the World Health Organization task force on developing a global patient empowerment model. Toni L. Goldfarb is president of TLG Publications, a medical communications firm. She was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Medical Abstracts Newsletter and her clients have included Advanstar Communications, Medical Economics, Doctor's Digest/Clinician's Digest, Whittle Communications, Pfizer, and Wyeth-Ayerst. Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., F.C.C.M. is a critical care specialist at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.