Learning and Development Executive CHI Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center Pearland, Texas, United States
Description: Nurses and surgical technologists play vital roles in preventing surgical site infections during surgical procedures. Prevention of surgical site infections aids in patient care outcomes and promotes patient safety, health, and well-being as well as reduces length of stay or hospital readmission for additional surgical procedures. Updating and increasing staff knowledge of an intraoperative bundle to reduce infection episodes enhanced integrity of results and promoted uniformity in patient care. Findings in literatures delineated the importance of the roles of operating room staff in improving outcomes through education. This project explored the impact of an educational intervention on operating room staff knowledge related to a newly introduced intraoperative bundle for use in gynecology oncology and colorectal surgeries. A pre-test given to a surgical team member participants (n=20) one week before conducting the educational intervention determined baseline level of knowledge, and a post-test after attendance was used to determine the module’s impact on learning. The baseline level of knowledge of participants was 69%. Results showed a significant gain in pre and posttest difference (p=0.007). The high baseline level of knowledge was attributed to 75% of the nurses who were cognizant of using separate instruments during fascia and skin closure and 45% who knew appropriate re-dosing of intraoperative antibiotics. Their years of experience in their roles permitted them to grasp new techniques and concepts in a fast-paced, precision-driven operating room environment.