Infection Control in the Operating Room

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Stakeholders and Benefits

Stakeholders are one of the most important things to consider in this change project. They play a big role because the ones that will support the change and backup the reasons why the change is being made. Implementing a change without stakeholders can have a negative effect on the project. The stakeholders in my project with be the patients and their families, operating room managers, the association of operating registered nurses, nurses, providers, nurse technicians, and any other personnel that come in contact with the operating room. These stakeholders can become involved by allowing their voice be heard. When input from stakeholders is not petitioned, mistrust can develop among healthcare providers (Young, 2015). The input from this group is valuable and is great information that can be implemented into the change project.

Identifying the cost-benefit ratio is important because if the cost outweighs the benefits, the more likely the project will be denied. It will cost some money, time, and training in the beginning, but if surgical site infections can be reduced or even subsided than we will save a huge amount of money and time treating those infections. This is an estimated three billion to ten billion dollars a year we spend on treating surgical site infections and the longer stays in the hospitals required to treat them (CDC, 2014). This can contribute to the return on investment to the stakeholders. If we reduce this amount of money, then in return this money can be used for raises to the healthcare employees. Also, the hospital can use the extra money to buy higher efficient equipment to help reduce surgical site infections. Other large benefits are improved safety, decreased patient mortality, and improved patient outcomes which can significantly improve JCAHO ratings.

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References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2014). The direct medical costs of healthcare. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/hai/Scott_CostPaper.pdf

Lissovoy G. (2009). Surgical site infection: incidence and impact on hospital utilization and treatment costs. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16834543

McDowell, D. (2014). Safety checklist briefings: a systematic review of the literature. In AORN Journal, Vol. 99(1), pp. 125–137. Retrieved from: http://www.aorn journal.org/article/S0001-2092%2813%2901215-5/pdf

Young, M. (2015). Transitioning evidence to practice. In N.A. Schmidt & J.M. Brown (Eds.), Evidence-based practice for nurses: appraisal and application of research (pp. 438-460). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.