Anesthesia Journal of Nursing

Perioperative Fasting Guidelines as it relates to ERAS Protocol: Exploring Existing Modalities

Perioperative Fasting Guidelines as it relates to ERAS Protocol: Exploring Existing Modalities

Tags: anesthesia carbohydrate-rich drinks ERAS protocol NPO perioperative Perioperative fasting

For the longest time, any procedure requiring anesthesia was accompanied with perioperative instructions mandating a fast from midnight until the surgery. However, anyone that’s lived long enough has learned to understand that just because something has been done for a long time, it doesn’t mean it should be done for the rest of time. With technological advances and improvements in research, medical practices and patient instructions should evolve. Here, we’ll explore the rationale behind the old modality as it pertains to preoperative care and instructions, what’s changed in research and technology, and finally, what new modalities should be learned, taught, and implemented.

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A Review of the Treatment for Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting

A Review of the Treatment for Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting

Tags: anesthesia health care professionals nausea PACU post-op risk factors treatment options vomiting

Common treatments reviewed for the treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting, mostly in the PACU phase of care.

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Regional anesthesia; A quick introduction

Regional anesthesia; A quick introduction

Tags: anesthesia bsn professional rn Regional anesthesia

This article offers a small introduction and overview regarding regional anesthesia. You have nerves that run all through your body. Nerves provide a pathway for impulses to communicate between the brain and other parts of your body. Not only do your nerves tell your muscles to move, they tell your brain when something is painful.

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Multimodal Analgesia:  Ways to Take Away the Pain

Multimodal Analgesia: Ways to Take Away the Pain

Tags: analgesia anesthesia multimodal pain management Regional anesthesia

This article addresses ways to use multimodal analgesia such as opioids, anti-inflammatories, regional anesthesia, etc to achieve greater pain control in patients.

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Young and Healthy in the PACU

Young and Healthy in the PACU

Tags: anesthesia Healthy PACU

Some patients in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) are young and or very healthy. These qualities sometimes give the impression that there will not be complications from surgery or anesthesia. This is not always the case. These patients may be overlooked for experiencing complications because they are healthy. I have seen a number of patients who have no health problems experience side effects from anesthesia and surgery.

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Anesthesia Awareness for Perioperative Nurses

Anesthesia Awareness for Perioperative Nurses

Tags: anesthesia awake awareness perioperative

Anesthesia awareness definition is an unexpected recall of events while under general anesthesia. The majority of the authors place the rate of anesthesia awareness to one patient out of every one thousand patients that experience some form of anesthesia awareness, however the exact mechanism of the pharmacological action of anesthetic is not clearly understood.

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Medication Induced Bradycardia

Medication Induced Bradycardia

Tags: anesthesia bradycardia labetolol medicine PACU pain

In medicine there is never a playbook about how things are going to unfold and this is especially true when it comes to recovering from surgery and anesthesia. For example, sometimes as nurses we give medications to treat one symptom and unintentionally cause another.

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Foley Catheters in Men and Women: Lubrication, Anesthesia, and Attitude:  A Randomized Trial

Foley Catheters in Men and Women: Lubrication, Anesthesia, and Attitude:  A Randomized Trial

Tags: anesthesia catheters comfort

Foley insertion in alert patients not in retention: males benefit from lidocaine jelly. All staff appear to underestimate discomfort.

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Spinal Block versus Epidural Block

Spinal Block versus Epidural Block

Tags: anesthesia Epidural epidural vs spinal block Regional anesthesia Spinal Block spinal block vs epidural

Spinal anesthesia, also called spinal analgesia, sub-arachnoid block (SAB) or intrathecal, is a form of regional anesthesia involving an injection of a local anesthetic into the cerebral spinal fluid with a fine needle. The term epidural is often short for epidural anesthesia, a form of regional anesthesia involving injection of drugs through a catheter placed into the epidural space. The injection can cause both a loss of sensation (anesthesia) and a loss of pain (analgesia), by blocking the transmission of signals through nerves in or near the spinal cord.

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