Essay On Surgical Site Infection

Surgical site infections (SSI) occur in 2 – 5% of ‘clean’ non-abdominal surgical procedures (Rothrock, 2007). Staphylococcus epidermidis is the most common cause for SSI in Orthopaedic surgery (NICE, 2008). Guidelines were produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to try and reduce this infection rate and include a preoperative phase, (including hair removal and antibiotic prophylaxis), an intra-operative phase and postoperative phase.

In recent years, surgical site infections are verified as one of the most errors that are common in the healthcare; however, they are also preventable. These research papers will synthesis information about surgical infections, patient experience, hospital-acquired conditions and achievement of expected treatment for specific clinical diagnoses. A surgical site infection is an infected condition in the body after surgery has occurred. Surgical site infections are caused by germs, called bacteria. Different types of bacteria from the environment may cause a delay in healing. The infection may come from surgical tools or bacteria on the skin if it is not clean correctly. Healthcare professionals use certain guidelines and

5. Poulin,P., et al.(2014) Preoperative Skin Antiseptics for preventing surgical site infections: What to do?

Conduct a literature search to locate research articles focused on a practice problem of interest. This literature search should include both quantitative and qualitative peer research articles to support your practice problem or issue of interest in 350-750 words.

Healthcare is an ever-growing, booming industry and as medical technology advances so should our standards of care. Once known as hospital acquired “nosocomial” infections, Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are still afflicting the very patients we are to be treating. These patients could be our loved ones, friends, and family so to say that, “1 in 25 hospital patients have at least one HAI in a U.S. acute care hospital” (CDC, 2015), is still one too many.

Preventable infections regardless of the causative agent, have become major triggers of unintended patient outcome, increased morbidity, and mortality (Arias, 2010). Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) are the most common causes of healthcare associated infections (HAI) and outbreaks in acute care hospitals and community settings (CADTH, 2010). The widespread infection with the MRSA pathogen is believed to have increased from 2.4 percent in 1975 to 29 percent in 1991 and 2003 in hospitals across the United States (U S) (CADTH, 2010). The prevalence is even greater among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients at 53 percent (CADTH, 2010) and continues to rise due to the widespread

Patients have varying susceptibility to develop an infection after exposure to a pathogenic organism. Some people have innate protective mechanisms and will never develop symptomatic disease and others exposed to the same microorganism may establish a commensal relationship and retain the organisms as an asymptomatic carrier (colonization) or develop an active disease process. Intrinsic risk factors predispose patients to HAIs. The higher likelihood of infection is reflected in vulnerable patients who are immunocompromised, underlying diseases, severity of illness, immunosuppressive medications, or medical/surgical treatments (Bauman, 2011). Extrinsic risk factors include surgical or other invasive procedures, diagnostic or therapeutic interventions (e.g., invasive devices, implanted foreign bodies, organ transplantations, immunosuppressive medications), and personnel exposures. In addition to providing a portal of entry for microbial colonization or infection, they also facilitate transfer of pathogens from one part of the patient’s body to another, from health care worker to patient, or from patient to health care

Pain…fever…oozing pus. Who would want to experience that? The answer is no one. Yet, out of the sixty to seventy of women who undergo a cesarean section, twelve percent will experience these symptoms due to a surgical site infection (SSI) ("Adjunctive Azithromycin Prophylaxis for Cesarean Delivery", 2017). SSI are the primary cause of mortality and morbidity amongst cesarean section women. SSI are linked to increased length of stay, hospitalization rate, and healthcare costs. Many cases of SSIs are preventable with appropriate preoperative preparation and surgical technique (McKibben et. al, 2015). One specific prophylactic method is the use of antibiotics preoperatively. Using an EBP model, PICO,

Treatment with postoperative antibiotics did not significantly reduce the risk of developing superficial SSIs, deep SSIs or organ space SSIs. The patients received postoperative antibiotics were significantly more likely to sustain a postoperative urinary tract infection (P=0.03), increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (P =0.01) and postoperative diarrhea (P = 0.02) while showing higher rates of both readmission (P= 0.08) and reoperation (P = 0.07) (Table 3) with a significantly longer postoperative length of stay (2.6 vs 1.4 days, P = 0.001) (Table1&

The International Wound Infection Institute declares that because of increasing mortality rates due to SSI, it is imperative to identify patients at risk, as well as follow preventive measures to try and contain these infections. Further, groups like the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the U.K. and the Surgical Care Improvement Program in the U.S. along with the National Health and Medical Council of Australia, agree that health care workers should be educated and have the information to prevent the spread of SSI 's. (Clinical Practice). In order to reduce the number of surgical site infections (SSIs) a number of procedures and practices can be bundled for the optimal prevention of the spread of these infections. There are procedures that can be done pre-op, during the surgical procedure, as well as post-op to ensure that a patient does not contract an infection at the surgical site. These procedures include patient safety practices, patient assessment, healthcare worker safety practices, operating room safety procedures, along with basic education of the health care workers, patient and caregivers once the patient is discharged.

The priority nursing diagnosis of hospital acquired infection is risk for any kind of infection. One of the main goals for each patient in the hospital is the patient will remain free of infection as evidence by absence of heat, pain, redness, or swelling in any area of the patient’s body during each nurse’s shift. (care plan book). Frequently hand washing is the best intervention for preventing infection. Hand washing reduces the risk of transmission of pathogens by inhibiting the growth of or killing the microorganisms. (cb)Proper sterile technique during urinary

Because SSI rates for healthcare facilities are made public, patients are able to gain knowledge of how well their facility SSI prevention practices work. “It is moving fast and furiously because consumers are pleased with the progress that has been made in reducing central line infections,” says Linda Greene, MPS, RN, CIC, director, infection prevention, Rochester General Health System, Rochester, New York. The public now expects the same transparency for SSIs” (Patterson, P., 2011) .Facilities that participate in Medicare must report their SSI for certain procedures; the list of procedures to report continues to grow as patients’ demand for listed procedures grow. ” SSI data will be reported through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a secure, web-based surveillance system for reporting data on infections and other events. The data can then be used for analysis, facility comparisons, and quality improvement.” (Patterson, P., 2011) Hospitals will, and should, continuously search for new ways to increase their quality of care. Having a great overall rating for a low number of incidences of SSIs can only boost their ratings.

carbolic acid into open fractures to sterilize the wound and to prevent sepsis and hence the need for

Ethical challenges are the most profound when dealing with patient safety; compliance with the prophylaxis antibiotic administration guidelines is paramount to a surgical patient in order to decrease the possibility of a post operative surgical site infection. Antibiotic timing requires

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the leading type of infections among hospitalized patients. There are so many reasons why people go for surgery; it can be an emergency reasons or elective. According to Beaver, (2008) a primary concern in healthcare today is the prevention of infections. Careful handling of the surgical equipment reduces the chances of surgical site infections, for instance equipment sterilization and careful hand hygiene of surgical equipment.