Anesthesiology clinics
-
Health care quality and safety are becoming more transparent, and consumers will increasingly value safety and quality rating in choosing where they go for surgery. Perioperative services are major drivers to a hospital's safety rating. Surgical services are often the most, or one of the most, profitable services, and loss of referrals and poor media reports will directly reduce margins. This article aims to guide leaders and perioperative staff in how to start improving perioperative quality and safety in health care and surgical services.
-
Anesthesiology clinics · Sep 2012
Review Case ReportsInterdisciplinary rounds in the postanesthesia care unit: a new perioperative paradigm.
Patients in the perioperative and postanesthesia care unit (PACU) experience several transitions in patient care at the same time that the majority of major morbidities will arise. The transitions for these patients are at the critical juncture between surgery and a steady sustained recovery. Historically these important medical problems have been addressed as a nonformalized process. The authors have introduced a formalized process, based on interdisciplinary rounding strategies used in intensive care units, to attend patients and address problems.
-
Pain management in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) is continually evolving, with several new nonopioids expanding the list of available agents. Pain in the PACU is not an inevitable outcome of surgery. ⋯ Accurate assessment of the characteristics of pain will direct rational drug choices while minimizing side effects. Better management of pain in the PACU setting will likely improve patient satisfaction and facilitate shorter PACU stays.