August 21, 2024- With more than four decades of experience as an infection preventionist, Maureen Spencer has seen her fair share of surgical site infections (SSIs). “The worst, in my opinion, are the total joints,” said Spencer, Med, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, and independent consultant. “When the hardware gets infected, the prosthetic joint gets infected, so they must determine how far the infection went down into the joint. Is it in the joint capsule and they could do an irrigation and debridement, or do they have to get in there and take that equipment out?”
In almost all SSI cases, patients will have to stay in the hospital longer or be readmitted. It is devastating to the patient, and costly to the hospital.
“Patients don’t want an infection,” said Independent Consultant Peter Graves, BSN, RN, CNOR, who joined Spencer and Repertoire Publisher Scott Adams on a podcast to discuss SSIs. “Not only are they economically devastated because of it, it’s a significant burden on the family, the payer, and the patient.”
Read More in the latest issue of JHC.