gery, says Nancy Strand, MPH, RN, ACS manager of surgical patient
education. She says it's not ideal to give that information at discharge.
"They are dealing with so much emotional and physical strain and
stress, cognitively it's not a time for learning or remembering," says
Ms. Strand.
Get the ball rolling early and have a caregiver in the room during the
wound care instructions, says Kathy Gallagher, DNP, APRN-FNP,
CMC, UMC, BC, WCC, CWS, FACCWS. Patients struggle to retain all
the information that's thrown at them, so it helps to have an extra pair
of ears listening in. This is the time to learn about a patient's back-
ground and to tailor advice to their needs. Smokers, for example,
should be told to stop using tobacco products after surgery because it
can slow their healing.
"Patients want to do what they can to help themselves heal," says
Dr. Gallagher, coordinator of the Acute Surgical Wound Service at
Christiana Care Health Services in Newark, Del. "When they do, it
goes really well."
It's easy to miss the little details. Dr. Gallagher has run into patients
who were surprised to learn they could have showered the morning
of a dressing change. When patients are in the shower, Dr. Gallagher
notes, they need to avoid perfumed soaps that will irritate the wound.
"It's huge to follow the instructions pretty precisely," says Dr.
Gallagher.
2. Practice makes perfect
If you want to teach someone to swim, you have to get them into the
pool. The same is true of changing a dressing, says Dr. Heneghan.
Before surgery, the patient and caregiver should come into the office
to see how it's done.
"Just giving verbal instructions is not sufficient," says Dr. Heneghan.
M A R C H 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 2 7
