The hospital implemented measures to reduce neurosurgical site infections, including educating patients and medial and nursing staff, conducting preoperative nares screening for Staphylococcus aureus and performing mupirocin decolonization for nasal carriers of Staph aureus. In 2011, the hospital saw a 76 percent reduction in neurosurgical site infections.
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Here are the four lessons learned from this project, as presented in a storyboard on IHI’s website.
1. Multidisciplinary teams are essential.
2. Continuous surveillance of process improvement works.
3. “Low tech” solutions and continuous education can facilitate high-volume outcomes.
4. Sustained elimination of neurosurgical SSIs is attainable.
More Articles on SSIs:
Patient Safety Tool: SSI Data Tracker Worksheet
Developing Targeted Strategies to Reduce Surgical Site Infections
Joint Commission Project Reduces All Colorectal SSIs by 32%
