being used more often in the OR.
Pushing forward
The authors of the previously men-
tioned study touch on common
challenges to proper infection pre-
vention practices, including insuffi-
cent manpower, time and training
resources, and limited perioperative experience in running quality
improvement projects. They also cite constant staff turnover, a lack of
experienced infection prevention professionals and lagging commit-
ments from physician champions as barriers that must be overcome.
Their discoveries mirror findings in the Penn-
sylvania Patient Safety Authority's 2011 survey of 134 ASC administra-
tors, directors of nursing and clinicians who identified several opportuni-
ties for improving infection prevention practices, including the need for
additional staff training and education, and constant surveillance of safe
injection practices, instrument reprocessing and environmental cleaning.
Addressing barriers to effective infection prevention practices is
becoming more urgent as the complex procedures being performed
in outpatient ORs typically require more complex instrumentation,
and more people and equipment in the room — all of which can
result in challenges in instrument reprocessing, increased risk of
shedding bacteria-laden hair, skin scales and aerosols, and more
frequent OR door openings.
There are plenty of resources available to guide your infection pre-
vention efforts. Over the last couple years, 5 major SSI prevention
guidelines have been issued by the CDC, American College of
Surgeons, World Health Organization, Society for Healthcare
Epidemiology of America and the Wisconsin Department of Health
M A Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7
Increase your focus
on factors that
are considered
less of a risk.
