5 0 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 5
Y
our staff has applied thousands of skin preps, using friction and
concentric circles to reach the layers and cracks where harmful
bacteria breed. They might get lost in the routine of it and lose
focus on the importance of decolonizing the patient's first line of
defense against SSIs. It's up to you to review the prepping
options and ensure the right agent is applied correctly before each incision is
made.
Overcoming barriers
It's been my observation that the most common obstacle to pre-op skin antisep-
sis is not having a system to guide the practice. Skin prepping is hardly com-
plex, but it is by no means a simple or mundane process.
Get Straight on Skin Prepping
Pre-op antisepsis is hardly complex, but questions remain.
Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH | Boston, Mass.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
z PREVENTIVE PRACTICE Skin antisepsis is an essen-
tial part of perioperative infection prevention efforts.
