Preoperative / Postoperative Care Flashcards
Pre-Op care involves
Patient education, know the patient’s baseline, risks, what’s going on with them, their understanding, ensuring they are on board
What is included in pre-op teaching
What can the patient expect? The more they know, the better they can recover. Sensory information: lights and noises to expect.
What is going to happen with the procedure, etc.
Who consents the patient?
Surgeon and anesthesia.
Who sits down and disclose the surgery, risks, benefits, consequences, probability of success, and prognosis if the procedure is not done.
The surgeon
For the nurse, what happens when you sign the witness form?
You are signing that the patient understands the procedure. Ask the patient what they understand is going to happen. And then you co-sign.
Do emancipated minors have legal capacity?
Yes
Post-Op care involves…
monitoring patient progress, preventing complications, and empowering patients to improve.
Why and How often do we assess VS post anesthesia?
Anesthesia dilates the blood vessels, increasing risk of thrombosis. Vitals Q15 x 4.
In the event that the patient has an emergence delirium from hypoxia, you need to…
put some oxygen on them and get their O2 sat.
What is the most common respiratory complication post-op?
Hypoxia related emergence delirium is the most common, we assess respiratory function.
What neurological component you will have to do to the patient post-op?
Constantly re-orient the patient (tell them your name, the date, where they are, give them glasses, and so on)
How does pneumonia manifest clinically?
Increased WBC, febrile, chills, dyspnea, tachypnea, chest pain, cough
In older patients, how does post-op pneumonia manifest?
Maybe no dyspnea, may be confused, present with stupor, rhonchi, crackles, dullness
What do nurses do if there are circulation complications post-op?
Assess! BP, HR, EKG, Vitals every 15-30 min. Immediately report abnorms.
If systolic BP is less than 90 or greater than 160
If heart rate is less than 60 or greater than 12-
Note skin color, apical, radial pulse differential
Note pain in extremities
Note disorientation
What common GI complication do we see post-op?
Nausea and vomitting
You have a patient experiencing post-op ileus (bowels do not move at all) What do we do?
Manipulation
Limit their intake to help
Opioid (pain killer and slows down motility)
Fluid imbalance
We want patients to have gas.
What is the post-op void minimum?
0.5 ml/kg/hr
