PERFIL E DESFECHO CLÍNICO DE PACIENTES INTERNADOS DIAGNOSTICADOS COM INFECÇÃO RELACIONADA À ASSISTÊNCIA À SAÚDE EM UM HOSPITAL PÚBLICO

Healthcare-associated infections pose serious problems that plague public health, increasing morbidity and mortality among patients who contract them. These infections also increase treatment costs, as they require new medications and strategies to overcome them. This study describes the profile and clinical outcomes of adult patients with healthcare-associated infections admitted to a public hospital in Baixada Santista. This is a field study with a quantitative approach, using retrospective data from physical and electronic medical records. The study identified two main profiles: both with a mean age of 57.5 years, prevalence of hypertension, and absence of cancer. The first profile includes female patients admitted to the intensive care unit with primary bloodstream infection caused by A. baumannii, resulting in death without recovery from the infection. The second profile includes male patients admitted to the medical clinic with primary bloodstream infection or catheter-related infection by S. aureus or K. pneumoniae and hospital discharge after recovery from the infection. Despite hand hygiene campaigns, national rates of healthcare-associated infections remain high, indicating the need for new approaches, such as strategies aimed at fostering empathy between professionals and patients, treating them with greater attention and care. In addition, profiling the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients and their places of hospitalization, as well as providing data to fuel similar research to deepen knowledge on the subject, may also contribute to reducing infections.