keep infections from occurring in
the first place. Since you can't
always rely on antibiotics to protect
our patients, focus on good prac-
tices: keeping patients warm, moni-
toring body temperatures and glu-
cose levels, and of course practicing
aseptic technique and hand hygiene.
The combination of our quality
improvement input and our commit-
ment to focusing on basics can go a
long way toward meeting the chal-
lenge.
OSM
Ms. Wood (awood@aorn.org) is a senior perioperative nursing specialist for
the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses in Denver, Colo.
M A R C H 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 4 5
One of the best
ways to protect
against overuse of
antibiotics is to
keep infections
from occurring in
the first place.
