Patients admitted for surgical or other invasive procedures believe that they willbe discharged from the facility in better health than they were in upon admission.Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Nosocomial infections continue to be a greatconcern for patients and healthcare providers. One of the perioperative nurse’s greatest responsibilities as patient advocate is prevention of nosocomial infections in surgicalpatients through the use of effective infection control practices. This continuing educationactivity provides useful information that the perioperative nurse can use to help controlinfection within the surgical environment and decrease the risk of nosocomial infections.It will present an overview of the impact of nosocomial infections, from both the clinicaland economic perspectives. It will then discuss various practices, such as handwashingand proper care, cleaning, high-level disinfection, and sterilization of surgical instruments.

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