Meaning & use
nosocomial
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedicaltechnical
(of an infection or illness) caught while a patient is in a hospital rather than brought in with them.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun in medical writing: a nosocomial infection, nosocomial pneumonia.
Patterns
- a nosocomial infection
- nosocomial pathogens
- nosocomial transmission
The patient developed a nosocomial infection two weeks after surgery.
Hand hygiene is the simplest way to reduce nosocomial transmission on the ward.
Older patients are at greater risk of nosocomial pneumonia during long stays.
adjectivebefore a nounmedicaltechnicalrare
Relating to a hospital or the care given in one.
Grammar: A rarer, broader use; still comes before the noun: nosocomial settings, nosocomial spread.
Patterns
- nosocomial settings
- nosocomial spread
Researchers compared infection rates across different nosocomial settings.
The report looked at nosocomial spread during the winter months.
Common combinations
- nosocomial infection
- A nosocomial infection can appear days after a patient is admitted.
- nosocomial pathogen
- MRSA is a well-known nosocomial pathogen.
- nosocomial transmission
- Better ventilation helped cut nosocomial transmission.
- acquire a nosocomial infection
- He acquired a nosocomial infection while recovering from a transplant.
- nosocomial outbreak
- The ward was closed after a nosocomial outbreak.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hospital-acquired
- The everyday equivalent; use it in general writing, and keep 'nosocomial' for clinical or academic texts.
- iatrogenic
- This means caused by medical treatment or a doctor's action, which is narrower than 'nosocomial', which only concerns the hospital setting.
Opposites
Word family
- nosocomially adverb
- In a way connected with a hospital; very rare and mostly found in medical writing.
Commonly confused: nosocomial or iatrogenic?
nosocomial vs iatrogenic
Iatrogenic means caused by medical care itself; a nosocomial infection is simply one caught in hospital, even if no treatment caused it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'nosocomial' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Nosocomial' describes infections or conditions linked to a hospital, so it fits the ward example. Option 0 is wrong because the infection came from home, not a hospital; the other options use the word with unrelated nouns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nosocomial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.