The Patient Room: what is the ideal solution? - Cornell University

Patient Room and Infection Control
Single-bed rooms are not being built exclusively for patient satisfaction, though this is a factor. There is a wide body of research
available that says single rooms reduce infection rates. The most commonly mentioned types of infections are nosocomial, or
hospital-acquired infections. The motivation is simple, a patient is allowed a specific and often certain amount of money for their
hospital stay based on their diagnosis. If, while an inpatient, they happen to develop an infection and need to stay an extra few days
or week, the hospital gets paid the same amount. This is a huge incentive to do whatever possible to avoid nosocomial infections.
It has been said that water fixtures such as sinks, faucets, showers, and toilets have been seen as potential sites for pathogenic
microorganisms (HERD Journal 2008). While classically these fixtures were in a single, separate bathroom within the patient room
that is not necessarily the case anymore. There are now some rooms being built with sinks exposed in them right in the room so that
caregivers have a convenient and obvious place to wash their
hands. While this may seem a threat it should also be noted
that instead of several people sharing a bathroom that cannot
possibly be completely disinfected every time one of them
uses it , a single patient is now using the facilities. This does
not, however, protect against the nurse, physician, or family
member who uses the sink after interacting with many
different people and patients. It should be noted that
empirical evidence linking these fixtures to
nosocomial infections is limited (HERD Journal 2008).
However, just because there is no specific evidence does not
mean that these should be ignored. If there is the potential to
harbor bacteria then it is clearly something to be addressed
and considered.
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