AORN journal
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Surgery delays and cancellations are costly to hospitals and emotionally distressful to patients. At Sarasota (Fla) Memorial Hospital, staff members developed a critical pathway-the preanesthesia collaborative care track, called "the Track," to address problems associated with preparing patients for surgery. The track is designed to facilitate preoperative patient assessments and nursing interventions that achieve desirable patient outcomes and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to surgical patients. The RN anesthesia care coordinator of the Track assists in early patient-problem identification and ensures that appropriate clinical data are available for perioperative nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons to avoid last-minute delays and cancellations of scheduled surgical procedures.
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Survival rates are enhanced if severely injured trauma patients are admitted directly to the OR for resuscitation and surgical intervention. To increase the survivability and decrease the morbidity of trauma patients with penetrating trauma to the chest or abdomen, a hospital in La Jolla, Calif, developed a "direct to the OR" resuscitation program. This program substantially increased the survival rate of these trauma patients. Perioperative nurses respond to all major trauma situations and assist with surgical procedures completed in a trauma resuscitation room or in the OR.
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Perioperative staff members encounter many occupational exposure hazards in the workplace. Cytotoxic agent exposure is a relatively new hazard that perioperative staff members are experiencing as more surgeons use hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIIC) to treat patients with abdominopelvic cavity malignancies. ⋯ The National Cancer Institute, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations provide guidelines for the safe administration and handling of cytotoxic agents. Institutions in which cytotoxic agents are administered should use these guidelines to develop policies, procedures, and educational programs to protect surgical patients and perioperative staff members.