Nurse-Led Study Finds Surgical Site Infections Reduced by Antiseptic Bath before Child Heart Surgery
Posted on Tue, Feb 08, 2011
Previous studies have found that 2.3% to 3.4% of children undergoing cardiac surgery develop a Surgical Site Infection. Nurses at the Levine Children’s Hospital, in Charlotte, N.C., initiated an intervention to provide an antiseptic bath within 6 hours before all scheduled heart surgeries for pediatric patients. The outcome of this study is promising.
Research findings were presented by Melody Walblay, RN, CCRN, Levine Children's Hospital, in a poster presentation at Cardiology 2011 on February 4, 2011. The poster session abstract follows.
A nursing intervention to reduce pediatric sternal surgical site infections (SSIs)
Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the third most common hospital-acquired infection reported, and HAI’s are the eighth-leading cause of death in the U.S.
Although there is no national benchmark for pediatric cardiac surgery SSI rates, previous studies have found 2.3% to 3.4% of children undergoing cardiac surgery develop an SSI. The CDC strongly recommends using a preoperative antiseptic bath to prevent SSIs, which are often caused by bacteria residing on the skin.
Nurses at the Levine Children’s Hospital, in Charlotte, N.C., initiated an intervention to provide an antiseptic bath, using chlorhexidinegluconate within 6 hours before all scheduled heart surgeries for pediatric patients. Melody L. Walblay, RN, CCRN, and colleagues performed a chart review to analyze SSI rates before and after implementing the intervention.
They found that SSIs declined sharply, from a baseline rate of 4.17% (n=264) in the year prior to the intervention, to 1.66% (n=181) in the first year after the intervention began. Compliance with the antiseptic bath was 85%.
The authors recommend continued efforts to achieve a goal of 100% compliance with the practice.
Reduce Surgical Site Infections
with Silverlon® Antimicrobial Dressings
