Antisepsis Case Studies

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The first surgeon to use surgical skin antisepsis was Joseph Lister. He experimented in the 1800s with using carbolic acid on various types of surgical wounds. Lister had discovered that by using carbolic acid on the patient’s skin and on his hands; the rates of surgical site infections (SSIs) and death in his patients were reduced (Spruce, 2016). HE was also the first physician to publish an article related to antiseptic techniques; the article was titled On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery. Lister’s ideas were very slowly accepted by his peers but eventually became the basic foundation to what we know now is practiced as a part of routine surgical care (Spruce, 2016).
After Lister’s work in the 1800s, studies on surgical
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SSI also contributes to an increased length of stay and a reduced quality of life with an estimated $7 billion annually in health care expenditures. Patients are not the only ones that receive a negative effect with SSIs (Podgorny & Kumar, 2013). Insurance companies are spending more money and hospitals doing damage control to try to rid itself of the negative reputations. With 40-60 presence of SSI being preventable, these statistics have brought to light a public health concern that needs to be addressed. This is why National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 07.05.01 was …show more content…
The SSI Change Project was started in 2010 to address feedback from 17 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals. These hospitals completed environmental assessment surveys to determine if they could successfully implement the eight elements of performance to prevent or reduce SSIs (Podgorny & Kumar, 2013). The results of this project was published in 2013 and is called The Joint Commission’s Implementation Guide for NPSG.07.05.01 on Surgical Site Infections: The SSI Change Project. These hospitals helped determine what 23 effective practices that have been used successfully that could be included in the NPSG.07.05.01 (Podgorny & Kumar, 2013). It was through this study that Joint Commission became aware of the fact that guidance and direction are needed for hospitals to understand how to successfully

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