Surgical Site Infection Investigation Tool

(AHRQ) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

This tool will help your safety program team understand lapses in infection prevention processes that may have contributed to the surgical site infection case. It can help your team identify practice patterns and inconsistencies in practice, so you can more easily pinpoint opportunities for intervention

WHO Global Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection

World Health Organization

The 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) Global guidelines for the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) are evidence-based and unique in that they are the first global guidelines of this sort, are based on systematic reviews and present additional information in support of actions to improve practice. They were developed by international experts adhering to WHO’s Guideline Development Process and overall aim to achieve standardization.

AORN Comprehensive Surgical Checklist

AORN

The AORN Comprehensive Surgical Checklist can be downloaded and customized to meet a facility’s needs. The checklist includes key safety checks as outlined in the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist and The Joint Commission Universal Protocol. It is designed for use in all types of facilities (eg, hospital ORs, ambulatory surgery settings, physician offices)

The Prevention of Surgical Site Infection in Elective Colon Surgery

Pubmed Article

Infections at the surgical site continue to occur in as many as 20% of elective colon resection cases. Methods to reduce these infections are inconsistently applied. Surgical site infection (SSI) is the result of multiple interactive variables including the inoculum of bacteria that contaminate the site, the virulence of the contaminating microbes, and the local environment at the surgical site. These variables that promote infection are potentially offset by the effectiveness of the host defense. Reduction in the inoculum of bacteria is achieved by appropriate surgical site preparation, systemic preventive antibiotics, and use of mechanical bowel preparation in conjunction with the oral antibiotic bowel preparation. Intraoperative reduction of hematoma, necrotic tissue, foreign bodies, and tissue dead space will reduce infections. Enhancement of the host may be achieved by perioperative supplemental oxygenation, maintenance of normothermia, and glycemic control. These methods require additional research to identify optimum application. Uniform application of currently understood methods and continued research into new methods to reduce microbial contamination and enhancement of host responsiveness can lead to better outcomes.

Patient Safety Analysis Quick Reference Guides

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

These quick reference guides were created to help you understand, modify, and interpret your data using the NHSN application’s various analysis output (report) options for the NHSN Patient Safety Component. These guides serve as companions to the “Introduction to NHSN Analysis” training slide set.

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)Patient Safety Analysis Resource

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The NHSN application provides various options that allow NHSN users to analyze their surveillance data. The resources listed on the link above are intended to help you use the analysis tool, and interpret data analyzed from the Patient Safety Component of NHSN.

Building a Team to Reduce Surgical Site Infections

This material was prepared by The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. It is redistributed by the IPRO HQIC, a Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The purpose of this toolkit is to lead hospitals through the key elements that are essential in building a successful team to reduce surgical site infections (SSI). The toolkit will provide information regarding how to develop a team, assess work practices, identify gaps, develop an action plan, implement changes, and evaluate success.

Strategies to Prevent Clostridioides difficile Infection in Acute Care Facilities

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Provides information on the basic principles and interventions recommended for the prevention of Clostridioides (formerly known as Clostridium) difficile infection (CDI) in acute care facilities. The strategies are intended to facilitate implementation of CDI prevention efforts by state and local health departments, quality improvement organizations, hospital associations, and healthcare facilities. Core strategies for the prevention of CDI in acute care facilities include:

1. Isolate & Initiate Contact Precautions

2. Confirm CDC in Patients

3. Perform Environmental Cleaning

4. Develop Infrastructure

5. Engage the Facility Antibiotic Stewardship Program

2021 NHSN Training videos

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)

NHSN subject matter experts have created training videos for 2021 NHSN updates. Recorded presentations cover the following topics:

  • LabID Analysis in Acute Care Hospitals – FAQs and Troubleshooting
  • MRSA Bacteremia and CDI LabID Event Reporting – Refresher
  • Clarifications to 2021 Bloodstream Infection Definitions
  • 2021 Secondary BSI and Chapter 17 Updates
  • Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) – Update
  • Ventilator-associated Event (VAE) and Pediatric Ventilator-associated Event (PedVAE) Analysis
  • Surgical Site Infection (SSI) – Updates and Refresher
  • Optimizing the Group User Analysis Experience
  • NHSN Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Option: Facility-Wide Antibiogram Report
  • Internal Data Validation
  • Healthcare Personnel Vaccination Module: Influenza Vaccination Summary Reporting for IRF Units in LTACHs and IPFs