CSI Project

Learn the Art, Protect the Heart: Reducing Surgical Site Infections

UCI Medical Center (Orange, California)

CSI Summary

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Summary

CSI Presentation

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Presentation

CSI Toolkit

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Toolkit

Added to Collection

Project Topic:

Reducing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgical site infections

Hospital Unit(s):

Cardiovascular Surgical Stepdown Unit (CVSU), DH44

CSI Participants:

  • Phuc An (Annie) Nguyen, MSN, RN
  • Randy Padua, MSN, RN

Project Goals/Objectives:

  1. Decrease superficial surgical site infections in CABG patients
  2. Increase HCAHPS nursing communication scores

Project Outcomes:

  1. Eliminated superficial surgical site infections
  2. Achieved higher HCAHPS nursing communication scores
  3. These project outcomes resulted in an estimated fiscal impact of $225,752.

Project Overview:

Our CSI team noticed a high rate patient readmissions from surgical site infections. The team set out to find the cause. Upon further investigation, we realized that patients were coming back more than 30 days post discharge. This finding suggested that nurses on the unit were not providing adequate post-CABG care instructions, so that’s what our team chose to address.

We kicked off our CSI project with a ramen party where we provided the nursing staff with education about the project. We also created a dot phrase in the electronic health record for nurses to document when patient discharge education was provided. In addition, we developed a journey board to keep the unit staff up-to-date on progress toward the project’s goals.

To sustain the momentum of the project, our CSI team plans to incorporate the teaching booklet we used into new hire orientation packets, and to create computer-based training modules for staff. We will also implement the education program in UCI Health’s CVICU and other units admitting cardiology patients pre-op to ensure continuity of education through the hospital.

Permission to Reuse Materials
The materials associated with this AACN Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy project are the property of the participating hospital noted above, not AACN. Requests to use content contained in the CSI team’s summary, presentation or toolkit should be directed to the hospital. We suggest reaching out to the hospital’s Communications, Marketing or Nursing Education department for assistance.

Disclaimer
The AACN CSI Academy program supports change projects based on quality improvement methods. Although CSI teams seek to ensure linkage between their project and clinical/fiscal outcomes, data cannot be solely attributed to the project and are estimations of impact.