
The best defense for battling surgical site infections is a good offense. And part of a good offensive game plan is to make sure your OR nurses understand the importance of the chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bath in fighting SSIs.
Pre-surgical baths using an antibacterial product have proven to decrease SSIs. We have a protocol that patients have a CHG bath the night before surgery, then again on the morning of surgery. When we see our outpatients in a pre-surgery clinic, we educate them on how to perform the CHG bath at home. While we’re proud of our low infection rates, we continue to prioritize inpatient baths, as well as the accurate and consistent documentation of those baths.