Redmond Regional Medical Center

Preventing Surgical Site Infections:

• Shower before your surgery following instructions by staff
• Don’t shave near the area where you will have surgery
• Talk to your doctor if you may have another infection
• Control your blood sugar
• Discuss stop smoking with your provider
• Don’t let family or friends touch the surgical wound, or dressing unless instructed otherwise
• Inform you surgeon after you have surgery if you develop redness, and pain around the site, new drainage, or fever.

• Surgical team performs hand scrub before surgery
• Surgical skin prep
• Clip hair at surgical site if needed
• Special antibiotics may be given before and after for limited duration
• Surgical team wears mask, cap, gown and gloves during surgery
• All healthcare workers should wash hand before and after contact with you
• Monitor for signs and symptoms of infection while you are in the hospital.
• Control of blood sugar

Preventing Blood Stream Infections

Preventing Blood Stream Infections related to Central Lines (long tubes inserted into your vein to be used for IV’s or medicines)

• Don’t touch or let your dressing get wet
• If bandage becomes loose, or wet, report it to your nurse or doctor immediately
• Ask healthcare workers if they washed their hands before touching your dressing
• Report any redness or pain at the site
• Only let healthcare workers touch the catheter site or the catheter unless you have instructed otherwise

• Wash hands prior to inserting line and anytime touching line or giving medications
• Use special skin prep
• Use maximum barrier precautions for insertion (mask, gown, gloves and cap)
• Remove when no longer needed
• Choose safe site for insertion
• Evaluate necessity of line daily and remove when no longer needed

Preventing Urinary Tract Infection

• Always clean your hands before touching your catheter
• Avoid twisting or kinking the catheter or tubing
• Keep your bag below the level of the bladder
• Do not tug or pull on the tubing
• Ask your healthcare provider every day if you still need the catheter

• Healthcare workers perform hand hygiene before inserting or caring for the catheter
• Catheters are inserted only when necessary and removed when no longer needed
• Only properly trained persons insert catheters using sterile technique
• The skin in the area where the catheter is inserted is cleaned before insertion
• The bag is kept below the level of the bladder to prevent urine from back flowing into the bladder
• Empty the bag regularly and do not touch the drainage spout while emptying bag

Preventing MDRO's

• Cover draining lesions
• Don’t squeeze bumps or pimples
• Take antibiotics as directed by your doctor and only when prescribed by a doctor
• Wash your hands and encourage visitors to wash hands
• Don’t share personal items like towels, razors, toothbrushes
• Follow your physicians instructions

• Hand washing before and after contact
• Use contact precautions when caring for patients with a history of MDRO (wear gown and gloves)
• Special room assignments
• Screen patients at high risk for MDRO’s when they are admitted and place on contact precautions if positive
• Patient education
• Clean hospital equipment

Preventing Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

• raising the head of the bed
• ask when the patient will be allowed to try breathing on their own
• remind visitors or healthcare workers to wash hands
• ask how often the patients mouth care has been performed

• Hand hygiene prior to care
• Head of bed elevated at least 30 degrees unless contraindicated
• Check the patient’s ability to breathe on their own daily
• Remove ventilator when no longer needed
• Mouth care on a regular basis