The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) recently awarded North Fulton Regional Hospital Third Place in the Josh Nahum Infection Prevention & Control Special Achievement Award Category for the 2008 PHA Quality and Patient Safety Awards. This award recognizes the hospital’s achievement through an on-going patient safety project on hard wiring surgical conscience.

Although surgery carries risk, the risk of infection is far greater than it should be. Brennan, TA, Leapee LL, et al. reported in a study that in 15,000 patient records, over 9,000 preventable adverse events were identified, of which 40 percent were related to operative procedures. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that two to five percent of surgical patients in the United States develop infections. These infections can increase the length of hospital stay and cost up to $854 million per year in the United States.

“Through this project, North Fulton Regional Hospital sought to develop and implement a zero preventable infection and adverse risk occurrence rate through the implementation of evidence-based measures and the re-designing of processes to support a safer surgical culture,” explains North Fulton Regional Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Young.

A multidisciplinary team with membership from across the continuum of care for the surgical patient diligently worked throughout 2007 and 2008 to achieve the following goals:

• Conduct a literature search to identify evidence-based care guidelines for the care of surgical patients;
• Continuously improve patient safety in the surgical setting;
• Assess current safety measures and core processes to redesign delivery systems and maximize communication and teamwork;
• Implement evidence-based practices;
• Ensure ongoing monitoring and evaluation of surgical care and evaluating per the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model for Performance Improvement Methodology.

“This infection prevention and safety project was successful in increasing compliance with evidence-based practices in order to decrease the risk of infections,” said Young. “From 2006 to 2008, we saw surgical wound infections decrease from 1.02 percent to just .54 percent, a decrease of almost 50 percent.”

Many factors contributed to the success of this surgical initiative. Through teamwork, consistent reporting of adverse events, ongoing communication, and regular monitoring of the new process, North Fulton Regional Hospital secured a big win for patient care.

North Fulton Regional Hospital (NFRH), part of Tenet Georgia, is a 202-bed, acute-care
hospital located on Highway 9, Alpharetta Highway, in Roswell. Opened in 1983, NFRH serves North Fulton and surrounding counties through its team of over 1000 employees, 400 staff physicians and 200 volunteers. NFRH is a state-designated Level II trauma center and provides a continuum of services through its centers and programs, including neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, surgical services, bariatric surgical weight loss, gastroenterology and oncology. The hospital is fully accredited and also is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.

For more information about Quality at North Fulton Regional Hospital, please visit www.northfultonregional.com/quality.  The hospital can be reached at 770-751-2500.