Hospitals do a lot to ensure patients get better – not sicker – during their stay. But did you know as a hospital visitor, you play a role in patient safety, too? By following crucial infection prevention tips, you can avoid spreading dangerous germs to your loved one in the hospital as well as to other patients, says Debra Spavone, an infection preventionist at Piedmont Newnan Hospital.

Four things you can do to limit germ transmission in the hospital:

1. Avoid the hospital if you are ill. Put off your visit until you’re feeling better and not running a fever.

2. Wash your hands. When you visit a friend or family member in the hospital, remember to clean your hands when you go into his or her room. You can either wash with soap and water at the sink, or you can use the alcohol hand hygiene product that is available in every patient room. Also, remember to wash your hands when you leave the patient’s room.

3. Follow any instructions posted on the door. Patients with certain contagious illnesses may be under isolation precautions to protect hospital staff and other patients, so adhere to any rules that are posted in their room. If you need assistance with isolation gowns, gloves or face masks, ask a member of the hospital staff.

4. Speak up. Make sure hospital staff members clean their hands before touching the patient. “This only takes a moment, and they’ll thank you for reminding them,” Spavone says.

Special precautions

When patients have a known or suspected infection (pending lab results), the hospital takes certain precautions to protect staff members and other patients from contracting the contagious illness.

“We do these precautions because we have a number of sick people in the hospital – that’s why they’re here – and we don’t want these infections spreading from one patient to another,” Spavone says.

“The bottom line is, if you’re visiting someone in the hospital, it’s very important to wash your hands and follow instructions to prevent the spread of infection,” Spavone says. “This protects everyone – you, your loved one and the other patients in the hospital as well.”

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