AORN journal
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For surgical patients' family members, the wait during surgery can cause anxiety that can be exacerbated if staff members provide inadequate or inconsistent information about the patient's status. Educational interventions and other staff-intensive measures to help reduce family members' anxiety can be time consuming for staff members and impractical in a high-volume facility. To improve communication with patients' families, nurses at a heart and vascular hospital in Dallas, Texas, designed and distributed a card containing estimated procedure times, helpful telephone numbers, and other information. A survey of family members indicated that receiving the card reduced anxiety in a significant proportion of the respondents.
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Peripheral nerve blocks involve injecting local anesthesia near or around a nerve or nerve plexus. This form of anesthesia allows surgeons to perform more complex surgeries and provides extended postoperative analgesia for patients. ⋯ The nurse must perform a preblock assessment and assist the anesthesia professional with administration of the block. Major responsibilities of the nurse include identifying and managing potential adverse effects (eg, pneumothorax, toxicity) associated with block administration and patient discharge education.
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Craniosynostosis is premature fusion of one or more of the cranial sutures of an infant's skull. Several sutures may be fused, alone or in combination. ⋯ The endoscopic approach relies on early diagnosis and surgery because the bones of very young infants are thin and pliable, which makes it easier to cut and remove the fused suture via a minimally invasive approach. After surgery, a cranial remolding helmet is used to direct skull growth.
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The use of scientific evidence to support national recommendations about clinical decisions has become an expectation of multidisciplinary health care organizations. The objectives of this project were to identify the most applicable evidence-rating method for perioperative nursing practice, evaluate the reliability of this method for perioperative nursing recommendations, and identify barriers and facilitators to adoption of this method for AORN recommendations. A panel of perioperative nurse experts evaluated 46 evidence-rating systems for quality, quantity, and consistency. ⋯ Facilitators included education, resource allocation, and starting small. Barriers and facilitators will be considered by the implementation team that will develop a plan to achieve integration of evidence rating into AORN documents. The AORN Board of Directors approved adoption of this method in June 2010.