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This clinical was the first one that we got to have on the unit so I found it pretty exciting to get into it and see what we would be doing. This week I was able to take vitals
on several patients as they were brought in and prepared for their operations. I particularly enjoyed getting them hooked up to the machine with the telemetry leads as I hadn’t placed those before. The patients I got to see ranged in age and acuity so that each intake was different. The nurse walked me through how she plans out her interventions for each patient
and how she uses her checklists in EPIC to ensure that she doesn’t miss an important step
in the preoperative procedure. I also learned that different surgical teams have different preferences for when the patient receives certain prophylactic medications like antibiotics. It is usually within 30 minutes of the set incision time to ensure the medication has time to be distributed in the system. Another important step is verifying informed consent is established. If it is not, the nurse must contact the surgeon and have them go over the information with the patient. The nurse serves as a witness to this process and ensures the patient is well informed before signing the forms. Additionally, it
is our job as the nurse to advocate for our patients. If we believe they do not understand or fully consent to the surgery, we must make sure that the information is reviewed. If the
patient decides against the surgery, we must also advocate for their autonomy and let the provider know. Finally, it is important to review patient allergies, confirm location and procedure to be done as well as the patient’s plan of care once the surgery is over to prevent poor outcomes. For instance, if a patient needs to have surgery where they will need help
