When is 'something' an infection?

Abstract

Nurses work with patients daily, and see so many ill and suffering patients that they sometimes start to accept that there is little that can be done to speed up treatment delivery for patients. Often, the patient waits until he or she is very ill before they present at a hospital for treatment because of factors such as financial or transport problems. If treatment is delayed too long, the time required for antimicrobials or surgery to act is prolonged. Therefore the nurse must be able to identify infections as soon as possible. The best way is by identifying and interpreting clinical signs and symptoms, and analysing a microbiology report as soon as it arrives from the laboratory.