Wound Care in Long Term Care: Focus on Infectious Complications
Dorothy B. Doughty, MN, RN, CWOCN, FAAN

Patients in long-term facilities are at an increased risk to develop serious, chronic wounds. According to Dorothy Doughty, effective wound management, including prevention and management of infectious complications, is a major priority in long-term care. Effective wound care requires a clear understanding of the factors affecting wound repair, implementation of a comprehensive program to promote healing, and prevent infection.
More than 30 million operative procedures are performed each year in the United States.1 Operative procedures disrupt the most important barrier we have to infection—our skin—resulting in a risk of surgical site infection (SSI). SSIs are associated with a significant burden, both in healthcare expenditures and human lives. Historically, SSIs occurred in 2% to 5% of patients undergoing inpatient surgery or approximately 500,000 SSIs occurred each year.2 The mean attributable cost for SSI has ranged from $3089 to $25,546, depending on the type of operation and infecting organism.3,4 There is a 2 to 11 times higher risk of death in patients with an SSI, compared with operative patients without an SSI3.5 Current infection prevention strategies have been helping decrease the SSI burden.

Panel Discussion
Surgical Site Infections: Where are we today?
Moderator: Robert G. Penn MD, FACP, FSHEA

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