The pre-operative stage is an important phase in patient’s surgery process. This is the time where the patients is experiencing a lot of anxiety issues and have questions regarding the impending procedure. To help ensure good patient outcomes, it is imperative to provide complete preoperative instructions and discharge instructions (Allison & George, 2014). It is the nurses’ duty to safe guard and protects the patient’s welfare during the surgical experience. Effective preoperative preparation is known to enhance postoperative pain management and recovery. Health professionals need to be cognizant of the contextual factors that influence patients’ preoperative experiences and give context appropriate care (Aziato & Adejumo, 2014). This essays attempts to address the elements of pre-operative management and issues that could potentially cause surgery delays or cancelation at the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHS) Surgical Specialty Outpatient department. Moreover, it also depicts the need for a new pre-operative management system.
Assessment
New consults for the Surgical Specialty Outpatient department comes from the primary care provider. During the initial visit the surgeon evaluates the patient and discusses the plan of care. If patient requires surgery, the surgeon orders pre-operative tests such as blood work, urine test, electrocardiogram (EKG) and chest X-rays. After completing the “buck slip,” a hand written operating room (OR) request form, the surgeon hands it to the primary care nurse of that particular Surgical Specialty clinic. The nurse then turns in a copy of the buck slip to the operating room scheduler and another copy to the nurse pre-operative unit. There are instances...
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Mitchell, M. (2013). Anaesthesia type, gender and anxiety. Journal Of Perioperative Practice, 23(3), 41-46. Retrieved from http://ozone.nsc.edu:8080/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012030991&site=ehost-live on on April 27, 2014.
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Anesthesia, “We take it for granted that we can sleep through operations without feeling any pain. But until about 150 years ago, the operating room was a virtual torture chamber because surgeons had no way to prevent the pain caused by their healing knives.”
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Although the comorbidities and type of surgery dictate certain decisions in managing patient care, anesthesiologists maintain various modalities for the perioperative period. These consist of anything from local to regional anesthesia, including neuraxial techniques and peripheral nerve blocks, as well as monitored anesthesia care with sedation to general anesthesia. Overlapping of different anesthetic types and combinations of regional analgesics to supplement general anesthesia occur frequently.
During my clinical rotation at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama I was able to manage the task of developing an effective electronic documentation template for the Ambulatory Surgery Facility (ASF) within the VA hospital. The ASF focuses on providing surgical, diagnostic, and preventative procedures in a same-day care setting. This facility offers veterans the convenience of having procedures performed safely outside of the inpatient hospital setting.
Smeltzer, S. C., Bare, B. G., Hinkle, J. L., & Cheever, K. H. (2010). Brunner & Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing (12th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. Professional Aspects of Nurse Anesthesia Practice. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1994. Print.
Wu, A. W. (2011). The value of close calls in improving patient safety: Learning how to avoid
Westhead, C. (2007). Perioperative Nursing Management of the Elderly Patient. Canadian Operating Room Nursing Journal, 25(3), 34-41. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/274594603?accountid=13380.
Ignatavicius, D. D., & Workman, M. L. (2013). Medical-surgical nursing: patient-centered collaborative care (7th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders.
Davenport, Joan M., Stacy Estridge, and Dolores M. Zygmont. Medical-surgical nursing. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, 66-88.
In relation to a perioperative client, the goals include the use of two correct patient identifiers, such as the client name and date of birth, labeling of medication and containers, maintaining and communicating information accurately on client medications, and lastly using evidence-based practices to prevent surgical infections. Performing the client verification by each member of the team will ensure that the correct client and procedure match. In the surgical setting, the use of labeled medications and containers is necessary. This follows along the principles of safe medication administration but prevents a medication error. In preventing the error and being safe, we must know what each item in the room is to ensure that the client receives proper medication and or...
With a good understanding of the materials they learned and a realization of how the use of humor effected their learning experience the new nurses can then take on a role comparable to their teachers. The nurse can then look for material that may pertain to their specific healthcare setting, be responsible for creating their own comfortable environment, and remind themselves to greet each patient with a laugh-ready caring attitude. The nurse may understand the task of needing to alleviate anxiety in a patient, prone to anxiety attacks, prior to surgery, through a thorough assessment of the patients understanding of, and concerns about, the procedure. If not having a prior understanding of the patients anxiety, just initially creating an atmosphere of humor to establish relationship, relieve anxiety, release frustration, avoid painful feelings, or humor to facilitate learning. If achieved, the physiologic benefits of improved respiration and breathing, decreased muscle tension, amongst other effects show to have beneficial postoperative outcomes. This is important because post operative high anxiety, increased postoperative pain, increased analgesic requirements, and prolonged hospital stay are all correlated with preoperative anxiety (Davis-Evans,
Although students were not allowed in the recovery unit, I was able to talk to one of the recovery nurses. I learned that a nurse’s duty of care includes monitoring the patient’s vital signs and level of consciousness, and maintaining airway patency. Assessing pain and the effectiveness of pain management is also necessary. Once patients are transferred to the surgical ward, the goal is to assist in the recovery process, as well as providing referral details and education on care required when the patient returns home (Hamlin, 2010).