4 5
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
hygiene surveillance program. Enforce it daily and address lack of
compliance. Let's not overlook patients' self-infecting the wound.
Another simple step to preventing SSIs is educating patients and
their caregivers to wash their hands before and after they touch the
dressing or surgical
site. Also address sur-
gical attire, sterile
technique, reprocess-
ing processes, patient
skin antisepsis, envi-
ronmental cleaning
and traffic patterns in
the semi-restricted
and restricted areas
in the center.
Appointing a well-
trained infection pre-
ventionist is essential
to your success in
preventing SSIs. Your
infection prevention-
ist should not only
track patients to
determine if the
patient has or had an
SSI, but should also
audit infection pre-
vention practices and
educate the team
when she identifies a
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