AORN journal
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Bloodless surgery programs are being instituted because of increasing public concerns about blood transfusions and the need to accommodate some patients' religious beliefs. Patients' desires to forego transfusion must be identified during the preoperative screening process and subsequently reflected on the surgical consent. ⋯ The surgical team employs a variety of intraoperative and postoperative blood conservation techniques to help avoid the need for transfusion. A retrospective review of congenital cardiac procedures in a blood conservation program confirmed that bloodless cardiac surgery is effective.
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Acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) are advanced practice RNs who are educationally prepared to provide advanced nursing care to patients with complex acute, critical, and chronic illness. The education of advanced practice nurses should prepare them for the setting in which they practice; ACNPs are well prepared for hospital and specialty practice, particularly if they have experience as RN first assistants (RNFAs). This article provides a brief overview of the ACNP opportunity for RNFAs and the importance of additional training for ACNPs without OR experience who may be first assisting.