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The Secret of Gritflowness - October 2020 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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patients say as they're wheeled in for surgery is, "It's cold in here!" Keeping them warm and comfort- able during their care can improve their outcomes and increase their satisfaction. Per AORN guidelines, ORs should be kept between 68ºF and 75ºF. This temperature range might be uncomfortable for providers who are stand- ing under warm surgical lights and dressed in surgi- cal gowns. Therefore, the temperature may some- times be adjusted below the AORN recommended range. However, the desired patient's temperature can be maintained with active warming interven- tions. The recommendation is to keep the operating room at 70ºF until active warming is initiated. The type and duration of the procedure are also important factors to consider. Procedures lasting more than an hour increase the risk of hypothermia because the patient is exposed to the cold operating room for a longer duration. Also, the more exten- sive the procedure, the more tissue is exposed to the environment. It's not uncommon to raise the ambient tempera- ture in the OR, especially for pediatric patients. It will help keep the young patient comfortable and will ulti- mately help with the patient's outcome and recovery. O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 5 1 Innovative Patient Warming Pre to Post Op LEARN MORE: www.welmed.us/thermaldrape.php | 847-337-1750 | thermal@welmed.us Welmed's Approach to Patient Warming... 1. Maintain the patient's natural body heat and prevent hypothermia by minimizing heat lost from exposed skin surfaces. 2. Adding direct heat to the body core thermoregulation will prevent vasoconstriction and keep normothermia during intraoperative procedures. As illustrated, Welmed's Thermal and Warming Products are designed to retain heat and warm patients, assisting in the maintenance of normothermia Active Warming | Thermal Drapes & Blankets Patient without Normothermia Intervention Patient with Welmed's Thermal and Warming Intervention Passively Retain Heat | Thermal Bouffant Cap Passively Retain Heat | Thermal Booties Pre-Op In OR Post-Op Thermal Bouffant Caps YES YES YES Thermal Booties YES YES YES Pre & Post Op Thermal | Warming Blankets YES N/A YES Surgical Warming Drapes N/A YES N/A UNDER COVERS Adding one layer of insulation with a passive warming can reduce heat loss by about 30%. Inform before you warm When patients arrive for surgery, especially in warm climates or the summer months, they might report that they're comfortable and often may not want to be actively warmed. Many patients decline warming as they may not realize how crit- ical it is to maintain their core body temperature. Staff should therefore be educated on the impor- tance of prewarming, so that they can in turn educate patients on its many safety and satisfying benefits. OSM Ms. Akinyemi (toyina@verizon.net) is a perioper- ative clinical nurse educator at the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Va. References for this article can be found at outpatientsurgery.net/forms. On the Web

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