Drill Down to the Root Causes of Infections

When SSI rates began to climb at University of Wisconsin Health, a multidisciplinary group of surgical professionals assembled to drill down to the root causes of the infections. The Strike Team now has full authority to recommend changes to daily practices and retains final say in what must be done to improve patient care. Learn from the team’s evidence-based success by understanding how they use real-time data to identify gaps in care and implement proven protocols that improve infection prevention practices.

Continuing Education: Association of periOperative Registered Nurses is provider-approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13019 for 1 contact hour.

This program is approved for up to 1 hour of AEUs and up to 1 hour of IPCHs by BASC Provider #0102.

Brought to you by Outpatient Surgery Magazine.

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Michelle Schmitz, BS, CIC

Clinical Infection Control Practitioner

Michelle Schmitz is a Clinical Infection Control Practitioner at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin. Certified in infection prevention, Michelle has over 20 years of experience in the field, with one of her focused areas in surgical site infection prevention. She holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Michelle is an active member in her local APIC chapter, Badger APIC 75 and has held various board positions over the past years including Treasurer-Elect, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Website Liaison, President-Elect, President and Past President.

She has received multiple awards including the 2013 and 2021 National APIC Chapter Award, 2014 UW Health Employee of the month, and the 2013 Department of Health and Human Services Award for excellence in infection prevention. She has published multiple articles or been featured in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality, International Journal of Infection Control, American Journal of Infection Control, and Molnlycke Executive Briefing and Outpatient Surgery Magazine, A Division of AORN.