"It's easier if you do all
patients," says a facili-
ty leader. "Make it a
universal procedure
so that all patients
receive swabs."
2. How do you
ensure that your
busy pre-op nurs-
es take the time
to perform nasal
decolonization?
It only takes a minute or so to perform nasal
decolonization, but you want to make sure your pre-op nurses don't
cut corners. One idea: Set out the swabs the night before, placing
cups and swabs at each bedside. Another: Make it a routine part of
the pre-op process, done immediately after the IV is started.
You can do random patient audits. You can also make it part of
the medical record, an order on the nursing order set. "Nasal
decolonization is in the nursing documentation and is part of our
SSI surveillance program," says Jeri Culbertson, RN, BSN, CIC,
director of infection control and sterile processing at Black Hills
Surgical Hospital in Rapid City, S.D.
You might ask your nursing assistants to perform the swab. Provide
surgeons with evidence-based research and educate your staff on the
who, what, where, when and, most importantly, why. Have your ven-
dor onsite for several days to provide in-services to surgeons and
staff.
"Follow up with the staff after implementation to discover if any
work-arounds were put in place and if they're applying it correctly,"
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 7
• BEFORE YOU GO Patients can apply nasal sanitizing swabs just before they're
called back to the OR.
Kate
Johnston/Saint
Francis
Hospital
