Improving antibiotic prescribing for surgical prophylaxis – the role of perioperative nurses

Abstract

Surgical site infection is a potential post-surgery risk that needs to be managed effectively as part of good patient care. The discovery of antibiotics in the 20^th century and their associated use as surgical antibiotic prophylaxis, often with other interventions such as oxygenation, glycaemic control and surgical antisepsis, has minimised this procedural burden.

However, the global increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is limiting the effectiveness of antibiotics currently available when treating infections and impacting on the delivery of safe and effective care for patients. As a result, many infections are no longer responsive to first line antibiotic choices. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics, wherever this occurs, impacts the efficacy of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis. This, compounded by the decreased antibiotic development pipeline, means that managing an infection is no longer as simple as just selecting ‘another antibiotic’.