6 7
A P R I L 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
to the bottom line.
We're trying to standardize our work practices across the board and
this was an area where we felt doing so would also help provide better
care for our patients. With an infection rate close to zero, we feel as if
we've accomplished that. Has our life gotten a little easier since we
standardized our skin-prepping regimen? Absolutely. We've eliminated
the extra work and bottlenecks that occurred when surgeons forgot to
order skin preps, and we've empowered the people who are responsi-
ble for patient safety in the pre-op department to implement an evi-
dence-based infection-prevention process on every patient, every time.
OSM
Ms. Steiert (
mary.steiert.vvmc.com
) is the director of perioperative services
and Ms. Zehr (
b onnie.zehr@vvmc.com
) is a charge nurse at Vail Valley
Medical Center in Vail, Colo.
S K I N P R E P P I N G
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