Reducing Perioperative S. Aureus Transmission

Overview

The purpose of this study is to prevent the spread of S. aureus, a dangerous bacterium, within the operating room and between patients undergoing surgery.

The purpose of this study is to prevent the spread of S. aureus, a dangerous bacterium, within the operating room and between patients undergoing surgery. The investigators will combine several approaches in a "bundle" of activities to achieve this goal. The bundle will include removal of bacterial pathogens from patient skin sites before surgery, from provider hands before, during, and after surgery, from environmental surfaces before and after terminal cleaning, and from the injection ports of patient intravenous catheters. The investigators will use a new surveillance system to evaluate how well the bundle, and each component of the bundle, is working. Surveillance will identify S. aureus transmission events, and movement of S. aureus between reservoirs before, during, and after surgery (perioperative). Surveillance will map transmission events to identify actionable steps to improve the bundle. An infection control perioperative team will act on the surveillance reports to proactively address the action items, and to measure the effect of their efforts for the treatment group. The investigators will compare perioperative S. aureus transmission events for patients receiving the bundle to perioperative S. aureus transmission events for patients receiving usual care.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes