J U LY 2 0 1 5 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 3 7
Safe to say, however, that whether patients are hypothermic intraoperatively
or both intra- and post-operatively, neither is more likely to promote a more
favorable outcome.
Awareness needed
Despite a plethora of studies and reams of literature, not enough surgical pro-
fessionals are getting the whole warming message, says Ms. Burns. "It's about
educating not only the nursing staff, but also the surgeons. They have very little
to do with the post-op time or the prep of the patient," she says. "But if they
knew the data that show why pre-op warming is important, they would want
that for all their patients and it would be a simple fix. They'd say: All of my
patients who are having abdominal surgery get this. Or all of my total knees."
So surgeon buy-in is key, she says. But they're not always available for educa-
tional sessions. "How about adding something about patient warming in their
medical staff newsletter?
How about including
them in an in-service? It
doesn't take long," she
says. "Fifteen minutes of
training a couple of times
a year is not a lot, and it's
all you need. That should
spark the buy-in."
And that spark could
light the fire that will
keep patients warm.
OSM
E-mail
jburger@outpatientsurgery.net.
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