For a long time, there have been reports that post-op infections result from medical accidents and mistakes. Their consequences and real magnitude have only gotten recognition recently. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that there are about 500,000 Surgical Site Infections in the United States annually.
The outcomes and costs of these infections often vary depending on the surgery type and location. However, they have almost the same effect on the victims.
The World Journal of Emergency Surgery has estimated that Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Surgical Site Infection results in over $5 billion indirect and direct medical costs annually. Increased costs reflect poorly on the competence of the nurses in the care of patients. Sometimes patients may sue the hospitals for negligence, which will impact financials of the hospital when it pays fines for malfunctions.
Hospital infection surveillance programs recently have been sabotaged by same-day surgeries, outpatient surgeries, and postoperative hospital stays. Thus, most of these infections occur after the patient has gotten discharged while 75% of surgical procedures get done in the ambulatory setting.
There are those which happen in an inpatient setting, with the postoperative admission length decreasing significantly. There is an approximate that up to 84% of SSIs occur when the patient gets discharged, and it occurs in the outpatient setting. As such, the ambulatory nurses are busy with treating cases that would have can get prevented with great care and more tests.
Some patients who need treatment for new cases may be put off or have to wait for too long because the nurses are busy with testing and treating these infections.
