Joint Commission Issues Surgical Site Infection Prevention Guide

The Joint Commission has released a guide based on the experiences of 17 hospitals implementing an element of its National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 7, focused on preventing surgical site infections. The Joint Commission’s Implementation Guide for NPSG.07.05.01 on Surgical Site Infections: The SSI Change Project follows a three-phase collaborative effort involving the 17 hospitals. In phase one, each hospital participated in an environmental assessment to identify effective infection-reducing practices; phase two consisted of structured interviews to evaluate and confirm the value of the practices, with a portion of the effort focused on pediatric hospitals; and phase three was the narrowing of the list to 23 practices.