Safer Surgeries

By: Kanedra Thaxton

(Image Credit:http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=22928)

      Recently, the World Health Organization has noticed the numbers for surgical site infections in the United States are high. A surgical site infection is an infection that is caused by bacteria that gets in through incisions made during surgery (World Health Organization para 3). The World Health Organization have recommendations and guidelines to help patients prevent infections. That includes   informing patients about when to use antibiotics or what disinfectants to use before incision (World Health Organization para 6).

     One of the problems most patients do not know is antibiotics are not supposed to be used after surgery. On the guidelines it says antibiotics are supposed to be used to prevent infections and the misuse is increasing in humans and animals(World Health Organization para 10). Since people are misusing the antibiotics it is making the benefits of modern day medicine dangerous. Today, our physicians are able to do cesarean sections, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy and more but the antibiotics resistance is leading to longer hospital stays and increased mortality (World Health Organization para 11). The World Health Organization is trying to reduce the dangerous of surgery by developing a guide for patients by "implementing preventive measures" (World Health Organization 12).
    This problem with misusing antibiotics is a very important to know about. Personally, I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to take antibiotics after having a surgery. This shows that there is a lack of knowledge about the current issue to patient and important information being left out from the physician to the patient. In order to solve this problem there should be more communication between  patients and their physicians about preventive measures that need to taken when taking antibiotics. Not only should there be more communication between patients and physicians, physicians should be held accountable for upholding their responsibilities to ensure safety amongst the patient.