Surgical site infection is the most common healthcare associated infection among surgical patients, with 77 per cent of patient deaths reported to be related to infection.
In February 2016, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) along with our partners Alberta Health Services-Surgery Strategic Clinical Network, Atlantic Health Quality & Patient Safety Collaborative, BC Patient Safety & Quality Council, Health Quality Ontario, and Saskatchewan Ministry of Health- Patient Safety Unit, conducted the Canadian Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Prevention Audit.
Auditing helps to identify both areas of excellence and areas for improvement. During the month of February, all acute care organizations providing surgical services were challenged to audit their established processes for preventing surgical site infections (SSI).
52 service areas participated in the Surgical Site Infection Prevention Audit with 1.998 patient charts audited. Audit highlights noted that 91% of patients received appropriate prophylactic antibiotics and 96% of patients received the appropriate method of pre-operative hair removal whereas post-operative glucose control was identified as an area requiring improvement.
To learn more about the Canadian Surgical Site Infection Prevention Audit and Results:
