• Carolyn Waddington.
• The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.
• ORL Head Neck Nurs. 2008 Jan 1;26(4):8-12.

AbstractEvidence based practice demonstrates using clippers immediately before surgery, when perioperative hair removal is necessary, results in the fewest surgical site infections (Kjonniksen, Andersen, Sondenaa, & Segadal, 2002). In addition, one of The Joint Commission's national patient safety goals for 2008 is "to reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections" (The Joint Commission, 2008, Goal 7). Therefore, a project was undertaken to change perioperative nursing care in a large teaching hospital from using razors for hair removal in the perioperative setting to using clippers. Change is difficult and encompasses many interdisciplinary areas. A description of the process of utilizing evidence to change behavior in the perioperative setting and its outcomes will be provided in this paper. Klevens, et al., (2007) reported that 22% of healthcare associated infections were the result of surgical site infections (SSIs). Changing practice to utilizing clippers for hair removal is an extrinsic factor of SSIs that can be easily modified. Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) patients that require hair removal before surgery (i.e., acoustic neuroma, cranial-facial resections, and head and neck reconstruction) may benefit from this change in practice. Perioperative nurses are in a prime position to reduce the incidence of SSIs in ORL patients.

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