Some organizations have achieved a zero-rate of surgical site infections by closely following measures shown to limit SSIs, like those laid out by the Surgical Care Improvement Project, but other organizations have yet to reach that goal.
For those organizations with room for improvement, implementing "plus measures" — additional products or practices added to programs to supplement basic measures — may help drive SSI rates to zero, according to a report in the AORN Journal by Sue Barnes, BSN, RN.
The plus measures outlined in the report are as follows:
• Preoperative patient bathing with products containing chlorhexidine gluconate
• Nasal decolonization for Staphylococcus aureus with mupirocin before high-risk procedures
• Use of dual agent surgical preoperative skin prep solutions, like those that combine alcohol and iodine or chlorhexidine
"To supplement standard measures, if a zero infection rate has not been achieved in any category of surgical procedure, it may be prudent to consider adding plus measures," Ms. Barnes wrote.
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