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Going Forward: Preventing Surgical Site Infections in 2015
Author(s) -
Edmiston Charles E.,
Spencer Maureen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/j.aorn.2014.10.010
Subject(s) - medicine , ethnic group , perioperative , health care , patient safety , intensive care medicine , family medicine , medical emergency , surgery , sociology , anthropology , economics , economic growth
n the previous three reports, several sentinel issues have been discussed that have a significant effect on how to improve surgical patient outcomes by reducing the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs); how the role of the OR environment affects acquisition of SSIs; and why complete, timely, and thorough endoscope reprocessing is important, without which the margin of safety in endoscope reprocessing is so small. Figure 1 is a fishbone diagram that identifies the many factors that influence development of health careeassociated infections (HAIs), including the importance of the preoperative assessment and preparation of the patient and the effect of the perioperative environment, surgeon, and care delivery factors on SSI prevention, as well as management concerns. Health care professionals recognize that HAIs have a tremendous fiscal and emotional toll on patients and their family members. When looking at infection prevention beyond 2014, in addition to the recommendations given in the preceding reports, health care professionals should consider racial and ethnic disparities in health care, implement surgical care bundles, and use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assays to assess the effectiveness of the terminal cleaning process.