nosocomial

adj

1. (formal, not-comparable)Of an infection or its cause: arising from the environment of, or treatment in, a hospital.

   “Professor Laveran furnishes this narration as a specimen of the injurious effects which nosocomial influences exert upon otherwise benign affections. The return of troops from the Italian war had the effect of producing great accumulations of troops in the military Hospitals. […] [W]e find that some [febrile diseases], as malarial diseases for example, are benefited by the very fact of residence within an Hospital, and are but little subjected to nosocomial influences.”

   “Gosselin discovered that this mode of [raw cotton] dressing was not a certain prophylactic against nosocomial intoxication, because he saw a patient die of purulent infection, whose limb had been amputated in his service, and in another case an attack of erysipelas followed.”

   “Nosocomial infections are infections occurring during hospitalization that were not present, and not incubating, at the time of hospital admission[…]. All patients in an ICU are at increased risk of developing nosocomial infections[…].”

   “The most common nosocomial infections are urinary tract infections (42 percent), followed by surgical wound infections (24 percent), pneumonia (10 percent), and infections of the bloodstream (bacteremia) (5 percent). […] Almost three-quarters of nosocomial infections occur among patients undergoing surgery […] The most difficult obstacle to the reliable measurement of nosocomial infections is the lack of standardized case finding.”

2. (formal, not-comparable, uncommon)Of, relating to, or happening in a hospital.

   “In 1822 he [Étienne Serres] left the Hôtel Dieu for La Pitié, where he remained until he had attained the legal limit of age which compels the nosocomial physicians and surgeons of Paris to retire from office. At this point terminates the strictly medical part of M. Serres' career, during which he gained great distinction as a nosocomial physician, and published several works of value.”

   “I immediately set the bones and applied a temporary bandage, then took the dog to my private hospital […] Unique Nosocomial Treatment [section heading] After this, I applied a bandage-padded pack, reaching from the top of the shoulders to the root of the tail to prevent arching movements of the back, […]”

   “It is also in part the nosocomial treatment schedules that have drawn our attention to this important field. I suggest that with shock lung we are dealing with a problem of multiple organ failure, not just the lung.”