Perioperative Strategies for Surgical Site Infection Prevention
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Perioperative Strategies for Surgical Site Infection Prevention
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Evidence-Based Perioperative Measures for Preventing Surgical Site Infections
The article selected for summary in this week’s assignment is “Perioperative Strategies for Surgical Site Infection Prevention,” by Bashaw et al. (2019). The purpose of the article was to educate the student on the best techniques and methods for perioperative surgical site infection (SSI) prevention. Surgical site infections are among the most prevalent and expensive illnesses related to healthcare. All surgical patients can easily develop these infections. These infections can appear on the surface of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, in the deeper parts of the tissue, in the area that was manipulated during the treatment, or even inside an organ (Bashaw et al., 2019). Since SSIs pose threats to patients' safety as well as the financial stability of healthcare institutions, perioperative nurses must care for their patients in a way that reduces these risks. When training baccalaureate nursing students to provide high-quality patient care in a range of healthcare environments, competency and skills in patient care technology and information are crucial (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). When making judgments about SSIs, the nurse of the future will seek out, assess, and use the most recent evidence, as well as clinical knowledge and patient preferences, experiences, and values (Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Nursing Initiative, 2016). According to Bashaw et al., there are two categories of risk factors related to SSIs, including patient factors and procedural factors (2019). Some of the patient factors include age, sex, and past skin infections, while procedural factors include preoperative showering, surgical hand hygiene, antibiotic prophylaxis, and hair removal. Therefore, maintaining good hand hygiene is crucial when working with perioperative patients to prevent infection. When there is a chance of coming into contact with the patient's skin and mucous membranes, perioperative staff members should use latex-free gloves. Nursing personnel should use an alcohol-based disinfectant before putting on non-sterile gloves. After they have finished caring for the patient, they should remove their gloves and wash their hands properly or use an alcohol-based disinfectant (Bashaw et al., 2019). Additional hand hygiene considerations may be required if the patient is under contact precautions. Handwashing procedures reduce the risk of transferring exogenous organisms from other people, medical staff, and the environment, as well as the spread of endogenous organisms from the patient. In summary, the article was selected because it demonstrates the need for the application of evidence-based practice in preventing surgical site infections.
References on Perioperative Infection Prevention and Nursing Competencies
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice. Washington, DC: Author.
Bashaw, M. A., & Keister, K. J. (2019). Perioperative strategies for surgical site infection prevention. Aorn journal, 109(1), 68-78.
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Nursing Initiative. (2016). Massachusetts nurse of the future nursing core competencies: Registered nurse.