Day Surgery 3/6/15

Report

1. This week in Day Surgery I read out of a binder for a good 30 minutes because they were not doing anything. After 30 minutes I was able to go into a room and observe the nurse. The nurse took vitals, and she asked the patient questions and informed him of the procedure.
2. This week I learned about what the nurses duties in Day Surgery are. They have to make sure the patient consents to the surgery, and they have to make them sign a paper.
3. The best thing that happened was that I got to sit down and read interesting stuff about edoscopies. I saw cool pictures, and also I was able to observe a nurse.
4. The worst thing that happened was that I was not able to do much observing. That's alright though. I was tired that day anyways.

This week was: FAIR

There wasn't much to do, but towards the end I was able to observe a nuse which made the day fair.

Record

Technology Observed:

I did not observe any technology; however, I read about an endoscope. An endoscope is a long, narrow, flexible tube with a light and video camera attached to the end. It shows images of the GI tract on a screen during surgery.

Diagnostic Procedures:

The only diagnostic procedure that I read about was an endoscopy. They use this procedure to diagnose what is wrong within the patient.

Therapeutic Procedures:

There were not any therapeutic procedures. They prepped the patient for surgery. They took vitals and made sure he was comfortable.

Diseases/Disorders:

I did not observe any disorders, however I read about some. I read about a hiatel hernia which is an opening in the diaphram that the esophagus or swallowing tube passes through to reach the stomach. If the hiatus weakens and stretches, part of the stomach and/or esophagus can squeeze into the chest cavity producing hiatal hernia.

Medical Abbreviations:

OR - Operating Room

PACU - Post Anesthesia Care Unit

Journal

     The Day Surgery unit was very calm and quiet. There were hardly any patients there at the time I went. When a patient was being prepared for surgery, the nurse asked him personal questions, and they told him about the procedure that is being done. The only equipment that was used was the vital signs machine and IV. The only technology utilized was the vital signs machine.
     I was able to watch the nurse prepare the patient. There was one nurse in the room with the patient, checking his vital signs, and then another doctor came in and gave the patient a form to sign. They teamed together to get the patient ready for surgery. The nurses would communicate with each other to provide the patient with the right medication. The major safety procedure performed was getting the patient to sign a form of consent.
     Going into day surgery, I had no idea of any procedures done. I learned that they prepare the patient for surgery for a while and then actually perform the surgery. The only abbreviations I came into contact with was PACU and OR.
     Day Surgery was not too bad. I had a decent time, and was able to learn a lot about endoscopy because I had to read a book for 30 minutes. I learned how the nurses prepare the patient and how important it is to have patient consent. If I ever want to become a day surgery nurse, I could use the people skills I observed. The nurse was very kind and informational.