Responsibilities

•Observed nurse and patients in PACU

•Be familiar with the procedures they take once with patient

 

Knowledge or skills:

• vital signs that are taken

•How long they are in the PACU

•What instructions to give patient

•Good communication with patient

 

Best thing that happened in the PACU:

•Patient did well during surgery

•Patient did well after surgery

•Patients was aware of what was happening once awake

 

Worst thing that happened in PACU:

•Tension between staff members

•Bad communication with staff members

1. This week in the PACU was very good with a great experience.

2. In the PACU there is lots of technology around. Since the patient is taken here right after surgery they hook them up to many monitors. This include cardiac monitor, blood pressure cuff, and pulse oximetry.

3. The Diagnostic procedure included surgery on the foot to remove a screw in patient left leg. Patient had therapeutic before surgery was considered an option. Doctor recommended her to attend therapy, which she did but without any luck they went ahead and completed the surgery.

4.  When I asked the nurse treating the patient in the PACU she informed she didn't know the disorder the patient had. She only knew she had surgery on her left foot due to pain over many months.

5. There wasn't much complex medical terminology because the nurse to patient vocab can’t be much abbreviated. Nurses have to try to explain the best they can on a level in which patient can understand.

 

 

  The PACU was pretty calm for the most part. When I was present there were only about three patients. Once the surgery nurses came to transfer the patient to PACU there was a bet of commotion. And this was because the PACU nurses were trying to get all the information the needed on the patient to be able to chart. There were about 4 different types of nurses once the patient was brought back to the PACU. The service provided in the PACU, I believe was pretty good. They took great care of their patient. At many times the nurse would ask the patient questions and monitor vital signs. In the PACU there were lots of equipment and many monitors. They would take vital signs every 10 minutes and this was done by the equipment they had there. In the PACU I got to observe the care the patient received and how and what they charted. The nurses there were not communicating well together. You could tell the tension in the area. At one point they did start to raise their voices at each other because they were not happy at what was happening or how things were being ran.

   The patients that came in went into surgery due to pain in her left leg, after failure of therapy the doctors resulted to perform surgery to place a screw in her foot, after having the screw in her foot for a period of time she then went back to get it removed (which was this day). While in the PACU I got to experience everything you would do and tell a patient right after surgery. Such as their level of pain they were in, if they were comfortable, and if they had any concerns. The nurse informed me on what to look for in a patient if they weren't doing well; and who to report it to. Right out of surgery the patient has an oxygen mask and after about 20 minutes the patient was able to spit it out.  25 min after that the patient was feeling good and was able to see her family. While the patient was recovering the nurse charted all her information and all her vital signs. The nurse also made sure to chart how her foot looked after surgery, how it felt, and if there was anything out of the ordinary. The nurse had to also make sure she had all her medication ready that she was supposed to take. When the nurse and patient were ready the nurse called the doctor over to release her to day stay where she would then be reunited with her family and be discharged. Throughout the whole time the patient was very calm because she was used to surgery and what to expect once home. This personal experience was great because i got to experience what it’s like to be there as soon a patient came out of surgery.

  This week at grace care I was in activities and watched a speech therapist assist with a resident. While in activists we were able to do some arm exercises with the patients by using a parachute. We had them raise it up and down. I noticed this time around the residents was more involved and they seemed happier. I thought it was pretty cool that one of the residents in garden bridged remembered a conversation we had previous weeks ago and she had continued telling me what she had wanted to tell me. When i did go to garden bridge this week I tried to get some residents to remember what they did in high school or college. I did come across some that could tell me what they did or at least tell me some information on what they did. I feel as we go to garden bridge we think that these residents don't have much to tell us or don't have much to do with us but in reality these are some of the best people we can meet and when you’re able to sit down and have a conversation with them it makes this whole experience a experience of a lifetime. While I was in rehab with the speech therapist she was helping a resident. Her task with this resident was to help a resident to be able to drink regular liquids. Up to that point she had her on thicken liquids. It was hard for the therapist to get her to do to throat and mouth exercise but after telling and explain to the resident over and over the resident was able to finish.