The Hole Truth
This type of wound closure uses sutures, staples, adhesive strips, or surgical glue to bring the edges together for faster healing with minimal tissue loss.
What is primary intention?
This is the minimum daily amount of urine output expected for an adult with a Foley catheter.
What is 30ml per hour?
This is the first thing you should assess after receiving a post-op patient from PACU.
What are the ABC's? (Airway, breathing, & circulation)
This is the time that the BMAT team starts and finishes.
What is 0800-2000
This is the most common post-op complication affecting the lungs.
What is atelectasis?
One of the main reasons for packing a wound is to prevent premature closure and allow healing from the inside out. Name one other reason why wound packing is important.
What is to absorb drainage, maintain a moist environment, prevent infection, or support healing?
Before performing bladder irrigation through a Foley, you must do this first to ensure you don’t cause trauma or worsen an obstruction
What is assess for kinks, catheter patency, & bladder fullness?
This tool helps determine a patient’s readiness to leave PACU.
What is the Aldrete score?
This is how often you should be documenting BMAT
What is once a shift for all patients.
A patient with a sudden fever, tachycardia, and hypotension after surgery may be experiencing this life-threatening condition.
What is sepsis?
Name two reasons why offloading is important after surgery.
What are to prevent pressure injuries, facilitate healing, minimize recurrence, enhance patient comfort, or improve circulation and oxygenation?
A patient with a suprapubic catheter develops sudden leakage of urine around the insertion site, abdominal discomfort, and decreased catheter output. This is the most likely complication you should suspect.
What is catheter blockage or displacement?
Incentive spirometry post-operatively helps prevent this common pulmonary complication.
What is atelectasis?
This is the section & subsection under which the BMAT team will document patient ambulation.
What is in I-view under Adult Nursing Care -> Activities of Daily Living.
This painful complication occurs when intestines temporarily stop moving after surgery.
What is paralytic ileus?
A patient’s surgical site dressing becomes soaked with blood shortly after surgery. According to best practice, what should you do first?
What is apply pressure, elevate, assess bleeding source, and reinforce dressing without removing it?
A patient with a Coude catheter in place reports bladder fullness, has minimal urine output for 2 hours, and the drainage tubing is free of kinks. These are the next two nursing actions you should take before escalating to the provider.
What is assess for proper catheter positioning and perform a bladder scan to confirm retention?
Post-op orders often include early ambulation to reduce the risk of this life-threatening complication.
What is VTE (venous thromboembolism)
In the event a patient refuses to ambulate, these two steps must occur — first by the BMAT team, then by the RN — before the RN documents the refusal in a progress note.
What is escalate to the RN, and for the RN to educate the patient on the importance of ambulation?
This post-op wound complication occurs when the edges of a surgical incision separate.
What is dehiscence?
What is apply pressure, elevate, assess bleeding source, and reinforce dressing without removing it?
What is remove the dressing, notify the physician, and/or replace the dressing as appropriate?
A patient with a Foley catheter has had zero urine output for the last 3 hours, despite adequate hydration, and bladder scan shows 600 mL in the bladder. You’ve already checked for kinks and ensured the bag is below the bladder level. This is your next nursing intervention before contacting the provider.
What is irrigate the catheter per protocol to check for obstruction?
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols focus on reducing this aspect of the hospital stay.
What is length of stay & postoperative complications.
These four questions should be asked when obtaining report from the BMAT team to guide safe ambulation.
"I Owe Physical Devices."
What are:
1) Is the patient on isolation?
2) Does the patient require oxygen, and if so, what device and flow rate?
3) Has the patient been evaluated by physical therapy?
4) What assistive devices are required for ambulation?
The mnemonic “Wind, Water, Wound, Walking, Wonder Drugs” refers to this type of post-op issue.
What is timing of post op fevers and their likely causes?