of their anxiety," says
Beverly Kirchner,
BSN, co-founder of
SurgeryDirect in
Highland Village,
Texas. "And it contin-
ues to keep our infec-
tion rate to zero." Plus,
she says, "Keep them
warm and they love
you."
Your warming rules
might depend on the
type and the duration
of surgery, on the
amount of exposed
skin, on the choice of
anesthesia and of
course on your preferred warming modality: warmed blankets, warm
irrigation and IV fluids, forced-air warmers and air-free, water-free con-
ductive table pads, blankets and mattresses.
"It depends on the length of the procedure. If it's less than 30 min-
utes, we don't use the forced-air warming blanket, but we'll still use
the warm cotton blanket and warm IV fluids," says Sherry White, RN,
BSN, CNOR, the infection preventionist at Imperial Calcasieu Surgical
Center in Lake Charles, La. "Patients almost always comment on how
good the warming blankets felt on the satisfaction surveys."
The only thing OR leaders seem to agree on are the reasons why
you expend the effort and expense to warm patients: to make patients
comfortable, and to prevent the major consequences associated with
5 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6
• TEMPERATURE LIFT This specially designed plastic head cover at a plastic surgery
facility helps with patient warming.
Susan
Bazzell,
MD
