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Going to the hospital can be DANGEROUS. The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that millions of people die each year from medical errors and infections linked to health care. They say that going into hospital is far riskier than flying. Out of every 100 hospitalized patients, 7 in developed and 10 in developing countries will come home with at least one infection, and the longer patients stay in an ICU (intensive care unit), the more they risk getting an infection.
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If you thought the biggest problems you could face in the hospital were boredom (from time passing slowly) and getting a superbug, think again: You may find yourself in the middle of a FIST FIGHT!

Researchers think that measures are needed to prevent violence and protect nurses, not only to protect them but also to avoid compromising the quality of care for patients.
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If you end up in the hospital, try to get dischargedmidweek. A Canadian study shows that patients who aredischarged from hospitals on Fridays are more likely to diein the following month than those who are sent home midweek.

Chaim Bell and Carl van Walraven at the University ofToronto analyzed the records of more than 2.4 million adultswho were admitted as emergencies and then discharged fromhospitals in Canada between 1990 and 2000. 7.1% of them hadan event, such as a heart attack, that led to them beingreadmitted. 1.7% died in the 30 days following theirdischarge. They also found that Friday was the most commondischarge day.
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