Reducing Surgical Site Infections Among Surgical Patients

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Following the discussion with my mentor about implementing the evidence-based solution, three areas, including financial, clinical, and quality aspects, should be considered.  The evidence-based solution to reducing surgical site infections among surgical patients is chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) prep solution. Therefore, the financial aspect that should be considered with CHG is reducing healthcare costs. Evidence shows that SSIs are a leading infection worldwide because they are associated with high healthcare costs, mortality, and morbidity (Bibi et al., 2015). Providing affordable, high-quality, and safe care is the nursing practice’s main goal. Thus, using evidence-based solutions, in this case, CHG is expected to lower healthcare costs by reducing the incidence of SSIs in surgical patients.

Concerning the quality aspect, it is necessary to ensure that the evidence-based solution improves anticipated health outcomes. For example, the quality aspects related to the implementation of CHG are reducing the risks of SSIs and enhancing patient outcomes.  By demonstrating that using CHG before surgery reduces the risk of SSIs by 40%, the previous study supports corroborates with Anggrahita, Wardhana, and Sudjatmiko (2017). For that reason, implementing CHG will improve the quality of care for surgical patients by minimizing adverse effects related to SSIs.

Reducing Surgical Site Infections Among Surgical Patients

Concerning clinical aspects, there is a need to consider how surgical staff understands the use of CHG in reducing SSIs.  For instance, a previous study demonstrates that CHG is the evidence-based solution for preventing SSIs if 2-5 separate solutions are applied before surgery (Davis& Patel, 2016).  Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that surgical staffs are aware of the multiple applications. The understanding would facilitate the effective implementation of CHG in a surgical center.

References

Anggrahita, T., Wardhana, A., & Sudjatmiko, G. (2017). Chlorhexidine-alcohol versus                              Povidone-iodine as preoperative skin preparation to prevent surgical site infection: A meta-analysis. Medical Journal of Indonesia, 26(1), 54-61.          http://dx.doi.org/10.13181/mji.v26i1.1388

Bibi, S., Shah, S. A., Qureshi, S., Siddiqui, T. R., Soomro, I. A., Ahmed, W., & Alam, S. E.         (2015). Is chlorhexidine-gluconate superior than povidone-iodine in preventing surgical         site infections? A multicenter study. Pakistan Medical Association, 65(11), 1197-1201.      Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26564292

Davies, B. M., & Patel, H. C. (2016). Does chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine preoperative          antisepsis reduce surgical site infection in cranial neurosurgery?. The Annals of The    Royal College of Surgeons of England, 98(6), 405-408. doi 10.1308/rcsann.2016.0143.

By admin in Blog on September 26, 2022