Surgical Site Infection Prevention

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.

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.

According to the Hospital National Patient Safety Goals, Goal 7 is to reduce the risk of health-care associated infections. NPSG.07.0.01 deals with surgical-site infections. The question to be asked is, “Why are surgical site infections a problem?” The prevention of surgical site infections can occur before and during surgery, with certain actions of the nurse, and when the patient is healthy. One way surgical site infections can occur is during surgery, or intra-operation. Sources of bacteria, exogenously, include the airborne route as a significant source of infection. Endogenously, infections can occur from the normal flora of a patient (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014a). Surgical site infections are a problem intra-operatively because of operating room temperatures not being controlled, misuse of sterile procedure, and improper hand hygiene. Operating room temperatures should be kept between 68 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 to 24 degrees Celsius. There also needs to be positive

Burke J.P. (2003). Infection control- a problem for patient safety. New England Journal Medicine, 348(7):651-656.

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.

As this is a joint surgical case (total knee), I am including Infection Control to seek their expert opinion if patient needs monitoring for possible SSI. The Biologicals are negative but this will not provide complete safety blanket to the extent that contamination has been probably spread during the

Checking in to the hospital comes with a heavy price tag, and sometimes you get more than what you bargained for. As highly trained doctors, nurses, and staff traverse through the hospital, they carry with them microbial agents of disease. Although regarded as centers for treatment and prevention, hospitals are also known to harbor nosocomial, healthcare-associated, bacterial infections. These infections can be a result of overused or inappropriately used antibiotics and the breaching of infection containment policies by patients and staff. Though healthcare-associated infections have been decreasing, one infection inciting nosocomial bacterium,

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to review the updated Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) recommended practices for prevention of transmissible infections in the perioperative practice setting to help perioperative nurses apply the recommendations in daily practice.

More than one million of Healthcare associated infections happen across healthcare settings every year, or 1 in 20 people admitted to any healthcare setting (Healthy people 2020, 2013). HAIs are the most common complication seen in hospitalized patients. HAIs increase morbidity, mortality, healthcare costs, and length of stay even after adjustment for the main underlying illness. According to the Center for Diseases Control (CDC, April 2013) 5 to 10% of patients admitted to acute-care hospitals, or long-term care facilities approximately 2 million patients per year in the United States acquire a nosocomial infection. At least 90,000 deaths per year are a result of HAIs, making it the fifth leading cause of death in acute-care hospitals. These

Hospital acquired infections or healthcare associated infections (HAI’S) which is also known as nosocomial infections have been a burden to society for decades, which has gained the top ten positions in the cause of death in the united states (CDC, 2015), although there is a decrease it still poses as a problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are several types of healthcare associated infections, which “includes central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), and ventilator-associated pneumonia infections (VAP)” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). Some other common types of HAI’s which are also Multidrug-Resistant Organisms

A nurse does not have time to properly wash her hands, a doctor leaves a catheter in a day too long, equipment was not properly cleaned; all these things seem like minuscule mistakes but are they really? These mistakes can lead to hospital acquired infections, an issue that affects millions of patients every year in the US as well as all over the rest of the world. This is an issue that should not be taken lightly. Hospital acquired infections occur in high frequencies, with many reasons that could be prevented, leading to protocols put in place to try and reduce these incidents.

Surgical site infections are considered preventable. Because such infections are considered preventable, there are legal consequences directly connected to such a condition. In this paper, I will discuss what an SSI is and the reasons on why it is considered to be preventable. I will also discuss the role of disclosure and legal implications that are related to SSIs, accreditation expectations, and continuous quality monitoring as it relates to SSIs.

Research shows that Surgical site infections are preventable. According to the CDC, hand hygiene is the simplest approach to preventing the spread of infections and needs to be incorporated into the culture of the organization. Ensuring the use of infection control prevention is an important component of nursing care. Infection control prevention policies must be communicated undoubtedly to all employees. Staffers who do not comply must be re-educated to ensure that all are complying. Speaking up and pointing out that a nurse forgot to wash his or her hands, or notifying the surgical team that surgical instruments were not adequately cleaned may seem like small issues; but at the same time, not acknowledging a break in a sterile technique could mean the difference between life and death for a patient. One hospital that was struggling with high levels of infection related to surgical procedures, implemented a pre-procedure huddle as a team. This innovate way decreased the spread of infection and was a great way to improve the quality of care for patients. As mandated by the Joint commission, infection prevention personnel should provide multidisciplinary education on SSI prevention, to all team members, including

Postoperative surgical site infections according to Nichol (2001) remain a major source of illness in surgical patients. Beaver, (2008) point out that surgical infection is one of the side effects that occur after a patient has gone for surgery.