Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Project

College/School

College of Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Project Mentor

Jennifer Fricas

Readers

Hyun Hong

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a major global health concern, affecting many people and creating a significant epidemiological and financial burden. Evidence suggests that half of hospital readmissions might be prevented if patients received better discharge instructions and education. After learning about the increased cases of SSIs in patients at the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) and finding a gap in discharge instruction, the Principal Investigator (PI) initiated a quality improvement project (QIP). This QIP aimed to create a new, easily understandable, actionable, and readable discharge instruction to reduce the incidence of SSIs at the ASC. There were two principal interventions: standard written discharge instructions were provided to patients during pre-intervention. During post-intervention, patients received newly developed discharge instructions. They followed up by phone calls on the 2nd and 30th days post-discharge to assess for signs and symptoms of SSI.

In the four-week pre-intervention period, no surgical site infections were reported. In the post-intervention group, there was one reported case of infection resulting from the premature removal of surgical dressing due to the patient's allergic reaction. Although the intervention did not demonstrate effectiveness in reducing surgical site infections (SSI), it emphasized the importance of providing patients with clear discharge instructions and adequate information to ensure compliance with pre and postoperative recommendations.

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