Question

You are the nurse receiving report on your patient that was admitted as an emergency earlier in the day. A 64-year-old female underwent a right colectomy. The right side of her colon was removed due to cancer. She has a history of smoking & no other health problems. She is currently being transferred to you in PACU. She has a midline incision with a Penrose drain, a stab wound w/ a Jackson Pratt drain to incision. She also has a NG tube, attached to intermittent suction. She is alert, riented and can move all 4 extremities. BP is 110/68, Respiratory rate is 14, O2 stats are at 93% w/ additional oxygen given via nasal cannula.

All labs are normal. You are asked to change the dressings daily and document the drainage. What precautions will you take to prevent this patient from obtaining a nosocomial infection?

Please answer the questions and develop a care plan for a patient that will be having an elective surgery. Please use the provided format for building your care plan. You will need to use your nursing reference materials as you build this care plan.

Go to ATI website for care plan - go to integration materials - scroll down to active learning templates - choose systems disorder

Answer 1

Although the first postoperative dressing is usually changed by a member of the surgical team ,subsequent dressing changes in the immediate postoperative period are usually performed by the nurse ..The dressing change is performed at a suitable time .privacy is provided and the patient is not exposed .if disruption of woundoccurs,the patient is placed in low fowlers position and instructed to lie quietly .These actions minimize protrusion of body tissues.the protruding coils of intestine are covered with sterile dressings moistened with sterile saline solutions and the surgeon is notified at once.The nurse should carry out hand hygiene before and after the dressing change and wears disposable gloves for the dressing change itself.The old dressing is removed and then deposited in a container designated for disposal of biomedical waste .in accordance with standard precautions ,dressings are never touched by ungloved hands because of the danger of transmitting pathogenic organisms.