LEARNING RESOURCES
THE IMPORTANCE OF DONNING STERILE GOWN AND GLOVES
The surgical team should wear a sterile gown and gloves to reduce the risk of SSIs. Aseptic practices, including scrubbing, gloving, barrier clothing, drapes, and instrument sterilization, are pivotal to protecting the integrity of the sterile field.
A surgical gown is a personal protective garment intended to be worn by health care personnel during surgical procedures to protect both the patient and health care personnel from the transfer of microorganisms, body fluids, and particulate matter.
THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH PROCEDURES THAT WOULD LEAD TO SURGICAL SITE INFECTION (SSI)
One of the major concerns of the perioperative team is surgical site infections (SSIs). An infection that develops due to the transfer of microorganisms to the patient's wound during surgery is called SSI. It threatens the lives of millions of people each year due to antibiotic-resistant infections. It is the most common type of nosocomial infection in patients who have undergone surgical procedures. Approximately seven percent of the patients in developed nations and more than 25% of the patients in developing countries are affected by healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).
SSIs result in delayed wound healing, increased hospital stays, increased use of antibiotics, unnecessary pain, and in extreme cases, even death of the patient. Hence, their prevention is a crucial aim of health services. According to estimates, 26-54% of such infections can be avoided. Proper aseptic techniques, including hand hygiene, can prevent these infections. The surgical team should wear a sterile gown and gloves to reduce the risk of SSIs.
Aseptic practices, including scrubbing, gloving, barrier clothing, drapes, and instrument sterilization, are pivotal to protecting the integrity of the sterile field. However, because of the fast-paced nature of the operating room (OR), the short time available for training, and the scarcity of experienced medical personnel, these abilities are challenging for medical students to learn. Hand preparation for surgery includes initial hand washing, procedural steps of rubbing, drying off hands, wearing an operating gown, and wearing sterile surgical gloves.
In 2008, an initiative of 'Clean Care is Safer Care' was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygiene (HH) compliance among healthcare workers (HCWs).
Gloves, gowns, and masks have a role in preventing infections but are often misused, increasing service costs unnecessarily. This surgical audit aims to assess glove-donning practices in the elective surgical operation theatre There is a scarcity of such clinical audits on standard donning sterile surgical gloves practices. To our best knowledge, this is the first in-field prospective audit on this topic from, using the WHO standard guidelines and involving education and assessment of the participants.
Clinical audit was performed and indicating that more audits are required to improve patient safety. On the other hand, significant progress was made through the training sessions. Clinical audits that are conducted periodically are of the utmost significance in bringing about a good change in clinical practice.
More audits should be done on a regular basis to improve adherence to standard guidelines. This can lead to a significant improvement in the reduction of health hazards, which still in turn, can help a country's economy by reducing prolonged hospital stays and minimizing the iatrogenic disease burden. Such clinical audits provide the framework to improve patient care collaboratively and systematically and educate healthcare professionals to become better caregivers and overcome their shortcomings. This also highlights the importance of intervention for amelioration/improvement.