Surgical site infections among Interior Health's cardiac surgery population : A quality improvement project

Background: Cardiovascular surgery (CVS) carries inherent risks, including the development of surgical site infections (SSIs). As SSIs are associated with worse health outcomes, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher healthcare costs, prevention efforts are critical. Prioritizing the delivery of quality incision management and SSI identification education at discharge may represent an effective and key prevention strategy for Kelowna General Hospital’s CVS population. Aims and Objectives: This quality improvement (QI) project, utilizing the Plan-Do- Study-Act model, aimed to create a comprehensive consolidated educational tool to support nurses in providing consistent discharge teaching and to improve patients’ understanding of incision care and SSI identification following hospital discharge after CVS. Methods: The patient-component of this project utilized a quasi-experimental, single-group pretest-posttest design to measure patients’ knowledge of incision care and confidence in SSI identification before and after receiving education from the condensed infographic. Patient surveys were collected 0 to 3 days prior to hospital discharge, between January 12 and February 16, 2026. The nurse-component of this project used a cross-sectional design to assess the Cardiac Surgery Inpatient Unit’s nurses’ opinions on the infographic, their current education provision tendencies, and how integrating this document might influence their nursing practice. Nurse surveys were collected from January 12 to February 18, 2026. Results: A total of 70 patient and 17 nurse surveys were completed. Considerable variation was observed in patients’ pretest perceived knowledge of incision care and SSI identification. Post-intervention results revealed that 93% of patients reported improved knowledge of incision care, and 89% reported increased confidence in SSI identification. All nurses (100%) indicated that integrating the consolidated infographic would support their delivery of essential patient discharge teaching. Furthermore, 53% of nurses reported the new document would increase their time spent educating patients, while 23.5% indicated it would decrease the time required for education on incision management and SSI identification. Conclusions: The findings of this QI project support the integration of a standardized, accommodating educational tool to assist nurses in delivering consistent, high quality patient discharge teaching and to enhance patients’ knowledge and confidence regarding incision management and early SSI identification following CVS.