The patient's environment: haven or hazard.

The hospital environment is a complex mix of animate and inanimate components that interact in a myriad of ways to alter the normal flora of a patient, become reservoirs for hospital strains, and provide pathways for transmission of potential pathogens to patients, personnel, and visitors. It is increasingly vital that those responsible for medical and nursing care have the knowledge of normal microbial flora, potential pathogenic organisms, and the routes of transmission through direct or indirect contact, air, or vehicles on which to base responsible decisions. To be effective this knowledge must be incorporated into assessments of individual patients which identify risks and hazards and into daily routine activities (such as handwashing) to block or minimize colonization by hospital strains that can lead to nosocomial infection.