ask the surgical team ques-
tions that weren't pertinent to
the surgery that was taking
place. Temple also continues
to enforce a policy that pro-
hibits staff from wearing sur-
gical scrubs outside of the
facility and then into the OR.
Tracking progress
Temple's cardiac unit experi-
enced a spike in surgical site
infections in the summer of
2016. The creation of the
unit's OR Surgical Site
Infection Report to monitor SSI prevention protocols led to better
adherence to good practices, which led to a gradual decrease in SSIs:
11 from June 2016 to July 2017, 5 in 2017-2018 and 2 in 2018-2019.
The OR Surgical Site Infection Report is a comprehensive electronic
reporting tool that lets surgical team members capture and track key
aspects of the hospital's SSI bundle, including antimicrobial prophy-
laxis (timing, selection and duration of therapy); chlorhexidine
bathing, both pre- and post-operatively; nasal decolonization; tight
glycemic control; and surgical wound care.
Lyndelyn Javier, RN, BSN, RNFA, service line manager of
Temple's cardiac, vascular and abdominal organ transplant units,
suggests creating a clinical pathway involving a step-by-step guide
that doesn't allow patients to move forward along the periopera-
tive pathway until each infection prevention step along the way
has been completed.
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 8 7
• TOUCHING THOUGHT Whether it's at the tried-and-true scrub sink
or using waterless rubs, good hand hygiene practices are a fundamen-
tal way to prevent the spread of bacteria.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
