Surgical site infections (SSIs) account for about 40 percent of all hospital-associated infections among surgical patients in the US, despite continued efforts to reduce or eliminate them. The bad news is that nearly 3 percent of postoperative patients develop an SSI, prolonging hospital stays and raising costs. Patients who develop SSIs are twice as likely to die as other postoperative patients. The good news is that between 40 percent and 60 percent of SSIs can be prevented. That’s why the IHI includes preventing SSIs in its 100,000 Lives Campaign. In this article, the author, a perianesthesia and perioperative nursing consultant, reviews how SSIs develop, and describes the four evidence-based components of care endorsed by the Campaign for preventing them.

Full text available! Click view article below.