The Role of the Registered Nurse in Regard to Patient Safety During Intraoperative Procedures An intraoperative setting is defined as the time the patient enters the operating room to the time the patient leaves the operating room to go to recovery. As a circulating nurse, our priority is to keep the patient as safe and infection free as possible throughout the entire procedure. Interventions to enrich patient safety throughout operating rooms are needed continuously to assure a successful outcome for the patient. A few important nursing implications used to maintain patient safety are: preventing infection, maintaining proper positioning, and effective communication.
Preventing Infection “Sterilization is a step beyond disinfection, in a class by itself, it is the process that destroys all
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One of the leading causes of patient harm is the outcome of ineffective communication among health care teams. It is fundamental for the staff in the operating room to have competent communication skills. Hospital policies call for a “time out” pause, before the skin incision. A “time out”, also known as a pre-procedure checklist, entails of reviewing the right patient, medical record number, right procedure, correct site, allergies, preoperative antibiotics, grounding pads, and the use of a sequential compression device. Communicating about all of these components improve patient safety. Checklists are effective and economic tools that decrease mortality and morbidity (Borchard, Schwappach, Barbir, & Bezzola, 2012). Patients put their trust in nurses to be their advocate when they cannot do so from anesthesia, they are their voice to ensure a successful surgery. When giving report to the post anesthesia nurse after surgery it is imperative to of performed an assessment of the patient and condition to enhance safety of their care moving forward in their visit to the
Integrating safety into nursing practice, education and research has a lot of significant implications for the instructor, practitioner, patient and the facility’s management. These are discussed below in detail.
For my second week of my 12-hour clinical, I was in the operating room and I witnessed several surgeries and how the circulation nurse does his/her duties along with how the operating room has certain finesse to it. From when the nurse gets the patient to when the patient gets on the operating table to the anesthesiologist quickly putting the patient to sleep and then the certified surgical technicians and the circulation nurse preps the patient for surgery then how the surgeon and their team conduct the surgery. There are many checks prior to the actual surgery itself; whether the patient has any allergies to any medication, if they have any metal in or on their body that needs to be removed or that the team needs to be aware of, if they know who they are, what surgery they are receiving, and by which doctor.
In health care, safety does not only pertain to the patient, but to all of the staff as well. Although this is important, it is critical that nurses are safe, since they usually interact with the patients the most. If a nurse does not follow correct safety and health practices, they may cause harm to the patient, which may end up in a lawsuit if the damage is bad enough. If safety measures are followed and nothing wrong happens, this saves the facility money and it could possibly gain money if the patients refer the facility to other potential customers. Every facility should have a policy pertaining to safety measures, and it should be reviewed as needed. One thing that nurses will need to know is how to properly use lifts and
Hughes, R. G. (2008). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/
When a person chooses to become a nurse they make a moral commitment to care for all patients. This commitment cannot be taken lightly, as stated in the Code of Ethics for Nurses “The nurse respects the worth, dignity, and rights of all human beings irrespective of the nature of the health problem” (American Nurses Association, 2001, 7). Therefore, three ethical considerations that impact the safe practice of nursing will be explored in further details. These ethical considerations include substance use disorder in the workplace, professional boundaries, and the use of social media. Since Florence Nightingale’s era, nurses have been faced with various stresses. The goal is that nurses will be safe practitioners respecting
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.
Working as a nurse, patient care associate, or any other health care professional is not an easy job. Nursing profession has the highest rate of back and other injuries related to lifting, moving and transporting patients. Hospitals and other nursing facilities were experiencing increased numbers of injuries, which meant many lost work days, worker’s compensation costs and patient safety at risk.
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN’s) goal is to prepare future nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that are needed to continuously improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems within which they work. QSEN focuses on six main competencies; patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics. As we have learned in earlier classes these competencies and their KSAs offer a base to help us and other nurses as we continue our education and become RNs. As we will learn in this class these KSAs go hand in hand with health assessment.
Many years from now, I will take this experience with me to better myself as a nurse. I know for the future that it is in my patient’s best interest, if I collaborate with other health care professionals. In order to maintain patient safety, I must always remember to work together with my fellow collogues to obtain a positive working environment. In order to be a good nurse, I need to always understand that I am part of a team to help those in need. I want to incorporate providing efficient care to each and every patient the best way I possibly
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.
Introduction The Patient Safety Plan is a program that provides a systematic, coordinated and continuous methodology to the upkeep and upgrading of safety through the founding of mechanisms that support effective responses to definite incidences in an organization work environment. It is also the incorporation of patient safety main concern into new strategy in an organizational functions and services which would lead to continuous positive decrease of risk in the work environment. Patient safety plan is used as a guide to approach optimum safety objectives which involves different departments and disciplines in creating plans, processes and devices that contain the patient care safety activities in a hospital setting (Main Line Health Inc,
AORN J 97 (2013). Effective communication is essential to prevent wrong-site surgery and includes verifying the proposed surgical procedure and conducting a time out with verbal participation from the perioperative RN, anesthesia professional, surgeon, and scrub person. In addition, perioperative personnel should hold preoperative briefings and postoperative debriefings to address patient related concerns and other team member concerns. AORN. J 99
The role of the nurse in the preoperative area is to determine the patient’s psychological status to help with the use of coping during the surgery process. Determine physiologic factors directly or indirectly related to the surgical procedure that may cause operative risk factors. Establish baseline data for comparison in the intraoperative and postoperative period. Participate in the identification and documentation of the surgical site and or side of body on which the procedure is to be performed. Identify prescription drugs, over the counter, and herbal supplements that are taken by the patient that may interact and affect the surgical outcome. Document the results of all preoperative laboratory and diagnostic tests in the patient’s record
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).
The term ‘occupational health and safety’ (often abbreviated to OHS), is used describe work practices that will keep employees safe. The absence of OHS can be detrimental to a company and its workers alike, as there is a high risk of serious injury. Safety on many worksites must be the top priority for any corporation. Though at our walk-around of Juggernaut Industries, we noticed it wasn’t monitored at all. The following is a list of possible effects and laws that will remind you of the consequences.