Analysis and significance of nosocomial infection rates.

An analysis of the systems of nosocomial infection reporting utilized in a 332 bed, urban, referral-type hospital demonstrated that physician reporting was much less reliable than a well-planned surveillance system coordinated by an infection control nurse. During 12 months' experience with the most recently devloped system, the average monthly rate of nosocomial infection was 10.7%. A prevalence survey gave a rate of 14.4%. The efficiency of reporting was close to 100% when the infection control nurse spent 100% of her time on surveillance. With a reduction in surveillance time to 75%, the efficiency of reporting fell to about 75%.