As a patient, you can also take steps to influence your surgery outcome and protect yourself from hospital infections. Health care providers offer their advice.

* Ask hospital staff to wash their hands and encourage visitors to wash their hands as well.

Proper hand washing is the easiest way to prevent the transmission of infections. Infection control nurse, Alice Lynch, said hand sanitizer is everywhere at the Wyoming Medical Center.

There are dispensers at the entrance of every patient room and in waiting rooms. Health care providers should wash their hands before touching a patient or equipment even if they are wearing gloves.

"People can always ask their health care provider if they have washed their hands or to wash them again," Lynch said. "It is their right. Don't be scared to ask."

* Be aware of the antibiotics doctors give you before surgery and make sure it is given within an hour of surgery.

"The hour before is key," Lynch said. "After the surgery, antibiotics are less effective." She said studies have proven antibiotics, if given within an hour of surgery, work at preventing infections. The antibiotics decrease the amount of bacteria that gets into an incision.

Once again, patients must be aggressive in this area. "A lot of people aren't going to ask their doctor, 'Can you give me an antibiotic before you cut me,'" said Jan Bloom, office director at Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation. But she and her agency want to empower patients to ask about antibiotics.

* Stop smoking well in advance of surgery.

Or at least decrease it as much as possible, Lynch said. Smoking interferes with healing and your body's ability to fight infection.

* Do not shave surgical site.

Using a razor to remove hair from a surgical site is associated with higher infection rates. Don't use one on yourself before surgery and ask your health care providers to use clippers if they have to remove hair from the surgical site.

* Monitor blood sugars closely before surgery, especially if you are diabetic.

Controlling blood sugar is good for your general health, but elevated sugar levels interfere with your body's ability to fight infection.

* Bring a fresh pair of clothes to change into after surgery.

* Shower with an antimicrobial wash before surgery.

Joan Ivaska, administrative director of epidemiology at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, recommends this to patients coming in for surgery. Advocates at hospitalinfection.org said you don�t need a prescription for the soap and one of the easiest brands to find is Hibiclens. They recommend you use it beginning three to five days before surgery.

*Talk to your physician about your risk for acquiring a hospital infection and how to best prevent one.

Let your doctor know your concerns and ask him or her about their experiences with hospital infections. Also, remember to alert your physician if you suspect you might have other infections such as an open sore, a cough or trouble urinating.

For more on this story, click here to read about the issue of hospital infections, and click here to learn what hospitals are doing to combat infections. Also, click here to learn how the rise of antibiotics has hindered infection control.