Date of Graduation

4-2023

Document Type

Capstone

Keywords

Abdominal; Spinal; Surgical site infection; Preoperative skin preparation; Infection prevention

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Degree Level

Graduate

Advisor/Mentor

Bradley, Callie

Committee Member

Kilmer, Michael

Abstract

Surgical site infections are an avoidable complication in surgical patients and one of the most common hospital-acquired infections. Adverse effects of surgical site infections include increased hospital length of stay, increased costs to patient and healthcare system, disability, morbidity, and mortality. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to design a protocol with the objective of decreasing surgical site infections in abdominal and spinal surgery patients. The protocol developed used targeted depilation and antisepsis with a chlorhexidine wipe to mitigate infection risk. Results of the project showed a static hospital length of stay, no increase in preoperative time, and a 0.98% decrease in surgical site infections, though it did not achieve statistical significance related to the small sample size. Further exploration is warranted, though the results are promising for more widespread implementation.

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