Keeping You Safe

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you should wash your hands:

• Before preparing or eating food.
• Before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Before and after changing wound dressings or bandages.
• After using the bathroom.
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• After touching hospital surfaces such as bed rails, bedside tables, doorknobs, remote controls, or the phone.

1. Wet your hands with clean running water.

2. Apply enough soap to cover both hands.

3. Rub your hands palm to palm.

4. Rub your right palm over the back of your left hand with your fingers interlaced. Then repeat this by rubbing your left palm over the back of your right hand. 

5. Rub your palms together with your fingers interlaced.

6. Clean the back of your fingers by rubbing them into the opposite hand with your fingers interlocked.

7. Clean all the way around your thumbs by clasping your left thumb with your right palm and repeating the same motion with your right thumb in your left palm. 

8. Remember your finger tips! Rub the tips of your left fingers in the palm of your open right hand. Repeat with the tips of your right fingers in the palm of your open left hand. 

9. Rinse hands thoroughly under stream of water.

10. Dry hands thoroughly with paper towel to avoid spreading germs back to your hands.

11. Use towel to turn off faucet.

For more information from the CDC, including tips and videos on hand hygiene, click here.

A urinary catheter is a thin tube placed in the bladder to drain urine into a collection bag. To prevent germs from entering the catheter and traveling into the bladder, remember to:

• Always wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before and after doing catheter care.
• Always keep your urine bag below the level of your bladder.
• Do not tug or pull on the catheter tubing.
• Do not twist or kink the catheter tubing.
• Ask your health care provider daily when it can be removed.

A central line is a tube that is placed into a large vein, usually in the chest, neck, arm, or groin, to give fluids or medication. To prevent bacteria or germs from entering the central line and into the blood, remember to:

• Ask your health care providers to explain why and how long you will need a central line.
• Make sure all health care providers wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before and after performing central line care.
• If the dressing comes off or becomes soiled, tell your nurse or doctor immediately.
• Do not touch or let any visitors touch the tube.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer.
• Remind visitors to wash their hands with soap and water or alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before and after each visit.

A ventilator is used when a patient is unable to sufficiently breathe on his or her own. Ventilators can be life-saving, but they can also increase a patient’s risk of infection, such as pneumonia, by making it easier for germs to enter the lungs. To help prevent this from occurring, remember the following:

• If you smoke, quit. Patients who smoke get more infections. If you know ahead of surgery that you will need to be on a ventilator, talk to your doctor about helpful treatments and resources for smoking cessation.
• Advise family members to ask the nursing staff about raising the head of the bed (semi-recumbent position) and performing regular oral hygiene to prevent bacteria from traveling down the ventilator tube to the lungs.
• Advise family members to ask the nurse or respiratory therapist when the patient will be allowed to try breathing on his or her own.
• Advise family members to remind any health care provider to wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before touching the patient.

Although infections at the surgical site are uncommon in the hospital, there are preventative measures to remember before and after the procedure.

Before surgery:

• Do not shave the surgical area. Shaving can irritate the skin,making it more vulnerable for an infection.
• Ask about taking antibiotic medication prior to surgery.

After surgery:

• Speak up if someone tries to shave the area with a razor before surgery. Hair should only be removed if it will interfere with the procedure. If necessary, hair should be removed withclippers.
• Remind all health care providers to wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before touching the surgical site.
• Remind visitors to wash hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub or sanitizer before and after each visit. Visitors should also avoid touching the surgical site or dressing.

• Be sure objects you need are within reach – such as the call bell, bedside table, and telephone.
• Use your call button if you need help or feel dizzy, light-headed, or weak. Wait for the nurse to help you.
• Do not try to climb over or put down the side rails of your bed.
• Wear slippers with non-skid soles.
• Do not lean on objects with wheels such as IV poles or your bedside table.
• Call the nurse if a spill occurs on the floor.
• Use assistive devices such as a walker or cane, or the handrails in the bathroom or hallway.
• Patient Lifts are assistive devices that allow patients who have lost or limited mobility to be transferred between their bed, chair, or other resting place. These devices use hydraulic power and straps, slings, or belts to make the transition possible.
• For information about home fall prevention, speak with your nurse or physician.

Cooper University Health Care embraces a culture of Safe Patient Handling. The goal of the Safe Patient Handling program is to protect you and your caregivers when you need repositioning while in bed or when you need assistance with transfer in or out of bed. Your caregiver will continually evaluate your ability to move safely and choose equipment accordingly. As the patient or a family member speaking on behalf of the patient, you have a right to refuse the use of any safe patient handling equipment.
 

• Do not bring credit cards into the hospital.
• Avoid carrying important documents with you.
• Empty your wallet or purse of unnecessary items.
• Whenever possible, have a family member take care of bills at home; do not bring or leave medical bills in the hospital room.
• Request the hospital to use a medical record number instead of your Social Security number for identification purposes.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions, such as who will be able to access your information.

• Review every Explanation of Benefits letter you receive from your insurance company. Check to make sure you received the services described.
• Always inform your insurance company of a lost or stolen insurance card.
• If you suspect that you are a victim of medical identity theft, request a copy of your medical records to ensure you are the only person who has been provided service under your name.

• File a police report through your local police department.
• File a medical identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or by calling 1.877.IDTHEFT.