Predictors Of Postoperative Delirium Essay

As a clinical requirement for my Adult 1: Medical-Surgical course, I had the opportunity to observe a patient in the Operating Room and in the Post Anesthesia Unit of Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. The procedure that I observed was a left total knee replacement. The patient needed this surgery because she was experiencing osteoarthritis, and this surgery could alleviate her pain and discomfort. I was with the patient from the end of her stay in the pre-operative holding area to the Operating Room, and then to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. This paper will include background inquiry, preoperative and operative

Lack of enough trained staff in conscious sedation available at the time of the procedure

On 01/27/2016, I observed about 22 patients in Postanesthesia Care Unit. Some of the patients were observed after surgeries while others were observed after endoscopy. During my shift, I observed patients awaiting recovery for removal of kidney stones, malignant melanoma (removal of moles), Endometrial Biopsy (EBX), superficial femoral artery (SFA), Hernia repair, Oophorectomy (ovary removal surgery), Cardiorrhaphy (Ventricular repair), Cystolithalopaxy (bladder stone removal), gall stone removal, Ectopic pregnancy surgery, and leg surgery.

The appropriate assessment of patients prior to surgery to identify coexisting medical problems and to plan peri-operative care is of increasing importance. The goals of peri-operative assessment are to identify important medical issues in order to optimise their treatment, inform the patient of the risks associated with surgery, and ensure care is provided in an appropriate environment secondly to identify important social issues which may have a bearing on the planned procedure and the recovery period and to familiarise the patient with the planned procedure and the hospital processes.(American Society of Anaesthesiologists)

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI, 2010) accentuated that when looking after a patient during anaesthetic care, the anaesthetic nurse must be competent in any circumstances for the safety of patient. On the case of Mrs D, there was an obvious need to communicate, so the anaesthetic nurse needs to be trained and encouraged appropriately (Mellanby, Podmore and McNarry, 2014). It is evident that the anaesthetic nurse needs to be confident enough when looking after patients to voice any concerns to the assembled team, regardless of how senior or intimidating they may appear (NMC, 2015). The anaesthetic nurse said that she communicated with the anaesthetists during this critical incident. Yet, the anaesthetists

Delirium is a serious condition that can affect patients in and outside the hospital. With its presence being unknown to many nurses and providers, delirium has significant long term complications that can last well beyond discharge. Noise, medication, and infection are significant in the development and progression of delirium and these are more than abundant within intensive care patients. The importance of nurse’s knowledge cannot be stressed enough regarding the assessment, symptoms, and interventions of delirium, in an effort to decrease its occurrence

During the pre-briefing, the group collectively discussed the patient’s history, presenting issues and other influences to the patient's care. As well, during this time, the group worked to identify role expectations, protocols, timelines and other presenting issues that would require consideration, including impaired circulation/post-op bleeding, mental status or hypoxemia. Decision-making in this aspect was based on the determined role and intended learning outcomes.

The investigation of how anesthesia effects cognitive functioning has had a long history. Overtime, it has been suggested that there is an association between anesthesia, surgery, delirium, dementia and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (Inan & Ozkose Satirlar, 2015). The theory of anesthesia’s impact on cognitive functioning was derived in 1887, by Savage, who began to observe the “insanity” that follows the use of anesthesia. He suggested that “Any cause which will give rise to delirium may set up a more chronic form of mental disorder quite apart from any febrile disturbance” (Savage, 1887, p. 1199). Delirium can be defined as an altered level of consciousness that may cause a sudden decline in attention and focus perception (Isik, 2015). Postoperative delirium was reevaluated in 1955 when Bedford used a series of case studies collected over a 50 year span to describe a connection between anesthesia and dementia. The results suggest that 10% of the patients had postoperative cognitive dysfunction (Bedford, 1955). Since these initial studies, research has persisted using a variety of methods, in an attempt to determine: both long- and short-term effects of anesthesia on cognitive functioning and memory; whether the anesthesia administration technique will change the outcome of postoperative cognitive dysfunction; and other risk factors that may be associated to AD.

My coworker had a 40-year-old patient who came to the hospital for alcohol withdrawal. All the nurses on our floor knew him really well because he visits our hospital frequently. At around 7:30 pm, our telemetry showed that the patient was having a heart rate of 180s to190s. We all were still getting report. Charge nurse went to assess the patient, patient started yelling in a loud voice, throwing pillows and a blanket. It turned out that the patient went to the delirium tremens (DT) phase. He was confused, disoriented, hallucinating, agitated, irritated and had muscle tremor. When reviewing the medication administration record (MAR), charge nurse noticed that CIWA scale was not done as ordered and as a result patient did not get enough Lorazepam

Ward also touches on other groups of patients who may need to be treated postoperatively. These patients include, the elderly, patients who have a tolerance, patients with persistent pain, and patients with sleep apnea. The author is able to create an easy to follow model that guides a person who is dosing these patients. For instance, the model helps to see if a patient needs to have a decreased dose due to a limitation or if they may need a stronger dose due to a

Enhanced assessment and nursing implementations to better prevent and detect ICU delirium will bring improved outcomes for this particular patient population. There are many ways to assess for ICU delirium. Two of the most reliable and easiest methods are basic observations from the bedside nurse and The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM). The CAM includes nine different criteria for delirium (1) acute onset and fluctuation, (2) inattention, (3) disorganized thinking, (4) altered level of consciousness, (5) disorientation, (6) memory impairment, (7) perceptual disturbances, (8) psychomotor agitation or retardation, and (9) altered sleep-wake cycle. A delirium diagnosis is given when criteria one and two and either three or four are present. The second assessment tool for delirium detection is made from nursing observations. The nurse observes the patient throughout their

The values such as communication, innovation, quality, and collaboration is key to the growing field of perioperative nursing (AORN, 2015). During surgery communication is important between surgeons, anesthesia and nursing. Surgeons are focused on surgery, anesthesia takes care of breathing and vital signs, nurses are at the bedside or circulating and can assess the OR and what is happening during the procedure. The ARON believes that every patient has the right to receive the highest quality of perioperative nursing care of every surgical or invasive setting; all health care providers must collaborate and strive to create an environment of patient safety; and every patient experiencing a surgical or invasive

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) are a relatively new set of protocols arising in the 1990’s which have since been coined the gold standard in surgical patient care. They have been increasing adopted in because overall research has shown them to be a safe and cost effective way of reducing length of hospital stay and positive patient outcomes. ERAS protocols are threaded throughout the perioperative care, including pre, intra and post-operative phases. I will analysis two research papers which highlight the use of ERAS protocols and define a variety of protocols and focus on four ERAS protocols which are commonly used in surgical nursing.

The management of postoperative pain has received much interest nowadays. The intensity of postoperative pain depends on many factors such as type and duration of the surgery, type of anesthesia and analgesia used, and the patient’s mental and emotional status (11).

A surgical nurse is responsible for monitoring and ensuring quality healthcare for a patient following surgery. Assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and outcome evaluation are inherent in the post operative nurse’s role with the aim of a successful recovery for the patient. The appropriate provision of care is integral for prevention of complications that can arise from the anaesthesia or the surgical procedure. Whilst complications are common at least half of all complications are preventable (Haynes et al., 2009). The foundations of Mrs Hilton’s nursing plan are to ensure that any post surgery complications are circumvented. My role as Mrs Hilton’s surgical nurse will involve coupling my knowledge and the professional