Table 1 Summary of recommendations and key actions for patients to participate in SSI prevention program

1. Staphylococcus aureus screening and decolonization

For high risk surgery, nasal screening for methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) or methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) carriage is recommended

Decolonization treatment with mupirocin 2% ointment with or without a combination of chlorhexidine gluconate body wash prior to surgery is needed for nasal carriage of MSSA or MRSA

Apply decolonization treatment at least the night and the morning before your surgery

Decolonization treatment for 3–5 days before the surgery if possible

2. Smoking

Inform your doctor about your smoking history before surgery

Quit smoking 4 weeks or longer before your surgery

3. Hair removal

Shaving is strongly discouraged

Do not remove hair at the site of the planned incision when at home Hair should only be removed with an electrical clipper

4. Hand hygiene

Clean your hands before eating a meal; after visiting the toilet or using commode/urinal; before and after touching your drip (IV line) or drainage bag/tube

Visitors should not touch your wound or dressings

Speak up if you do not see HCWs clean their hands

5. Body temperature

Ask about the procedures followed to keep you warm throughout surgery

Take a hot shower shortly before the surgery

Avoid “cooling down”

Ask for extra blankets to keep yourself warm during transportation

Speak up, if you feel cold before or after surgery and ask for a blanket

6. Preoperative showering and bathing

Make sure your skin is clean before surgery

Shower or bathe (full body) with either soap (antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial) on the night before and/or in the morning of the surgery

7. Diabetes mellitus

See your doctor at least one month before your scheduled surgery

Maintain stable blood glucose levels before, during and after surgery

Inform HCWs about your routine insulin regime

8. Wound care after surgery

The wound dressing should be kept in place for 48 h after surgery

If change of dressing is necessary, this should be done under a clean technique

Ensure that HCWs clean hands immediately before changing your dressing

Visitors should not touch your wound or the dressing when visiting you

Make sure you know and understand how to care for your wound before leaving the hospital

Report any redness, pain, swelling or fever to HCWs

9. Multidrug-resistant organism risk (MDRO)

Inform HCWs about any travel history or previous recent hospitalisation

Inform of any known carriage of any MDRO such as MRSA, Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) producing or Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)