An Initiative to Prevent Surgical Site Infections After Cesarean Birth With a Quality Improvement Care Bundle

Objective

To reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) after cesarean birth through a bundled care approach.

Design

Quality improvement project.

Setting/Local Problem

In a community hospital obstetric unit, an increase in SSIs after cesarean birth was observed.

Participants

Nursing leaders, obstetricians, certified nurse-midwives, physician assistants, nurses, scrub technicians, a nursing professional development specialist, and an infection prevention practitioner.

Interventions/Measures

An interdisciplinary team was formed in early 2022, and an evidence-based care bundle including practice changes, education for the team, and enhanced education for patients undergoing cesarean birth was developed and implemented after a review of the literature was completed. All cesarean births were tracked pre- and postintervention to determine the rate of SSIs per 1,000 cesarean births.

Results

A decrease in the rate of SSIs after cesarean birth was observed from preintervention (18.2 per 1,000 cesarean births) to postintervention (11.8 per 1,000 cesarean births).

Conclusion

An evidence-based quality improvement care bundle using a multidisciplinary team approach was associated with reduced SSIs in an obstetric unit.