It's been many years since I worked in a clinical setting, but purified positive pressure air was to the best of my knowledge something you'd find in a surgical suite rather than a waiting room. Hospital acquired staph infections like MRSA are not something I think you'd find an air purifier very effective against. They're usually spread by physical contact.

There is something you can do, however, and that is to use your prerogative to limit visiting. People who visit have good intentions, but most post surgical patients appreciate rest and peace and quiet and many find the endless entourage of visitors tiring. We live in modern times, we have telephones and I'd encourage friends and family to use them. The next thing you can do to help is make sure everyone who comes in contact with your mom washes and sanitizes their hands and stays away from her if they even suspect they are sick or could have been exposed to a sickness.

And btw, there is no way at all everything in hospitals are sterile.....just those places and things needing to be. Clean yes.......sterile no.

We're lucky to live within a short distance of a state of the art hospital. They specialize in robotic surgery, get you in and get you out in the shortest amount of time. Less time to collect germs.

They have computers in every room that a patient, doctor ,hospital and family can use to communicate with each other.
We went to an open house of this hospital, and time after time the nurses said they were so happy that the body fluids were collected in enclosed units in the surgery units. The cords and cables were moved away from the floor to overhead so the people would not trip over the cables etc.I don't know if this answers your question, other than to say that is how "our" hospital handles the "germ" question. Limit the exposure.

Not long ago, I read an article re hospital infections. One study showed that a requirement for *everyone* (especially including doctors and nurses) entering the room (to see a patient) wipe their hands with isopropyl alcohol before touching anything. The article indicated that the hospitals participating in the study found that overall infection rates were cut by 90%.

The last time DH was hospitalized, I saw doctors and
nurses do things like wipe or blow their nose, sneeze, and in general handle doorknobs, borrow pens, etc, and proceed to change dressings and care for the patient without ever cleaning their hands! This was at a nationally acclaimed hospital.

I brought in alcohol wipes and offered them to each caretaker before they did anything for DH. Some looked a bit sheepish (the cougher and sneezers) and took one to clean hands, a few persons indicated that they had already cleaned their hands -- ignoring that they had touched doorknobs, medical carts, and other things when entering the room (which apparently was after the handwashing).

I consider that we were amazingly lucky that DH did not come down with an infection.

There was a news blurb on the tube about a sensor now one facility had installed near a patient's bed and it would alarm if a caregiver approached the client and the sensor did not 'smell' soap or instant cleanser. The report said there were 0 cases of hospital acquired infections on the follow up.

The thing is, it used to be easy to spot nosocomial infections because the patients stayed so long they became self-evident. But with the new guidelines of sending patients home so early they sometimes don't present themselves until after the patient is in a home environment and then go unidentified as hospital acquired.

Hand washing is one thing I never was sloppy about, and still have the same habit today as does hubby who was a butcher. We seldom get sick when bugs are lose in the community, either. I have also had a patient's family tell me that I was the only nurse she had seen on the unit who routinely washed my hands before tending a patient, and then immediately afterward. It bothered me so much I reported that to my manager.

Thank you for your replies.
I wasn't worried about the doctors and nurses being careful. I assumed they've all seen people die from infections and would know to wash their hands but maybe I shouldn't assume that. I will watch to see if they wash/sanitize their hands when they enter the room. Some hospitals probably enforce it more than others.

After re-reading your post I get the idea that you're worried about visitors with germs. Perhaps you could ask the hospital what their policies are about visitors. I hope all turns out well with your mother.