For those organizations with room for improvement, implementing “plus measures” — additional products or practices added to programs to supplement basic measures — may help drive SSI rates to zero, according to a report in the AORN Journal by Sue Barnes, BSN, RN.
The plus measures outlined in the report are as follows:
• Preoperative patient bathing with products containing chlorhexidine gluconate
• Nasal decolonization for Staphylococcus aureus with mupirocin before high-risk procedures
• Use of dual agent surgical preoperative skin prep solutions, like those that combine alcohol and iodine or chlorhexidine
“To supplement standard measures, if a zero infection rate has not been achieved in any category of surgical procedure, it may be prudent to consider adding plus measures,” Ms. Barnes wrote.
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