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The Power to Prevent SSIs - June 2017 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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Outpatient facilities are already feeling the pressure to improve their antibiotic stew- ardship, pressure that's only going to intensify. Those of us on the front lines of infection prevention are going to need to be creative. We're going to need to find other ways to fight against surgical site infections. Thankfully, there are plenty of other very effective weapons in the infection-control armory that are either relatively new, or — in my estimation — under- used. Some you may not yet know about; others may sound like straight- forward reminders of what we should already know. Some are rela- tively inexpensive; others are fairly costly. Keep in mind that a single preventable infection can not only cost your facility a fortune, it can ruin its reputation, and potentially take a life. 1. Nasal decolonization MRSA presents a challenge for many outpatient facilities, and more and more of my clients are asking for guidance on how to handle it. Some outpatient facilities simply refuse to do surgery on patients with a history of MRSA, regardless of whether they currently show any signs or symptoms, which is a shame, because they're both turning away business and inconveniencing patients who'd prefer not to be hospitalized. 4 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 7 • NARES DO WELL Preps that decolonize MRSA without the need for culturing and antibiotics are a big step forward.

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