Surgical site infections were interesting to me due to the high incidences occurring. “Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the second most common health care-associated infection. In 2002, of the 290,485 SSIs reported in the United States, 8,025 of the affected patients died” (Chiang, Herwaldt, Blevins, Cho, & Schweizer, 2015). A surgical site infection is defined as an infection occurring within 30 days of surgery. In nursing our goal is to treat and prevent diseases of the person as a whole, with SSIs occurring related to lack of education we are not doing everything we could be. Education is the base of health, if we can correctly educate our patients on safety in addition to prevention they will be more successful at keeping themselves
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“Asian and Hispanic patients are at higher risk for postoperative sepsis, and African American patients have two times the risk of developing hospital- acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection compared with white patients” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). There are many reasons why SSIs happen, most of which are preventable. “Factors that contribute to disparities in health care include language barriers, unconscious bias, income level, education, and a tendency of minorities to use lower-quality health care facilities” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). “Language barrier was the primary factor in creating an environment in which disparities were observed in outcomes and processes of care,” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). There is certainly no reason why language barrier should be an issue with interpreters available at every facility, whether it be through a phone or in person, we need to be aware of the resources available, also to be looking for signs of patients not understanding and needing an interpreter. The problem with surgical site infections aren’t only that the patient gets sick, it is that we are prolonging their hospital stays of 7-10 days in addition to increasing the cost of the stay by $20,000 to $27,600 per admission (Owens, Barrett, Raetzman, Gibbson, & …show more content…
“Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. Aureus (MRSA), is the most common organism that is causing SSIs,” (Spine, 2014, pp. 387). There are a couple ways proposed at helping the incidences decline one research has determined that using vancomycin powder could lower rates of SSIs (Chiang et al., 2015). “The pooled risk estimates from these studies revealed that vancomycin powder remained significantly protective against all SSIs, deep incisional SSIs, and S. aureus SSIs”, (Chiang et al., 2015). This is one way to protect against surgical site infections without complication, there are also other approaches which don’t use more medications. Edmiston and Spencer think language barriers are one reason why people are getting SSIs, they also state that surgical care bundles can lower the risk of surgical site infections, (2014, p. 617). “The authors of both reports documented a significant reduction (three-to four-fold) in the rate of SSIs over a 30-day observational period” by using surgical care bundles (Edmiston & spencer, 2014). The only down turn about these bundles is one does not fit all, meaning sometimes the bundle will not have everything you need in it, making it possibly more difficult to
“Asian and Hispanic patients are at higher risk for postoperative sepsis, and African American patients have two times the risk of developing hospital- acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection compared with white patients” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). There are many reasons why SSIs happen, most of which are preventable. “Factors that contribute to disparities in health care include language barriers, unconscious bias, income level, education, and a tendency of minorities to use lower-quality health care facilities” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). “Language barrier was the primary factor in creating an environment in which disparities were observed in outcomes and processes of care,” (Edmiston & Spencer, 2014). There is certainly no reason why language barrier should be an issue with interpreters available at every facility, whether it be through a phone or in person, we need to be aware of the resources available, also to be looking for signs of patients not understanding and needing an interpreter. The problem with surgical site infections aren’t only that the patient gets sick, it is that we are prolonging their hospital stays of 7-10 days in addition to increasing the cost of the stay by $20,000 to $27,600 per admission (Owens, Barrett, Raetzman, Gibbson, & …show more content…
“Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. Aureus (MRSA), is the most common organism that is causing SSIs,” (Spine, 2014, pp. 387). There are a couple ways proposed at helping the incidences decline one research has determined that using vancomycin powder could lower rates of SSIs (Chiang et al., 2015). “The pooled risk estimates from these studies revealed that vancomycin powder remained significantly protective against all SSIs, deep incisional SSIs, and S. aureus SSIs”, (Chiang et al., 2015). This is one way to protect against surgical site infections without complication, there are also other approaches which don’t use more medications. Edmiston and Spencer think language barriers are one reason why people are getting SSIs, they also state that surgical care bundles can lower the risk of surgical site infections, (2014, p. 617). “The authors of both reports documented a significant reduction (three-to four-fold) in the rate of SSIs over a 30-day observational period” by using surgical care bundles (Edmiston & spencer, 2014). The only down turn about these bundles is one does not fit all, meaning sometimes the bundle will not have everything you need in it, making it possibly more difficult to