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Peds Surgery Journal - Bella Wertz 1
Peds Surgery Journal - Bella Wertz 1
Peds Surgery Journal - Bella Wertz 1
Recognize the specialized nursing needs of the infant or child in a surgical environment
a. In every aspect of pediatric surgery, the patient requires a lot more special care
and attention. In preoperative care, the parents are typically very involved in the
patient care meaning that the nurse needs to have quality communication with the
parents and patients. Also, both parents and patients are usually nervous and
scared at this part of the process and the nurse needs to be able to calm them both
down and using play therapy with the patient. In surgery, the nurse ensures that a
timeout is done and they everything is correct for the patient. During the post
anesthesia stage, the nurses need to ensure that the patient isn’t having a reaction
to the anesthesia. They watch the vitals and make sure they are normal for their
age range and they will talk to the parents of the patients condition and all that
2. Identify the interdisciplinary team approach to prepare the child for the
surgery/procedures scheduled.
a. The nurses and doctors worked very well together and maintained a solid line of
communication. The nurses went through all of the questions required for the
patient and parents and kept reassuring them that everything was going to work
well for them. Then, the child life specialist came in and gave them emotional
support and relayed their concerns to the rest of the team. The anesthesiologist
also helped in calming the patient down by trying to distract and play with the
child before the procedure started. The surgeon did similar things while marking
a. The RNs were there for every step of the process. They always introduced
themselves to the patient and family and what their role was at that certain step.
Their job was to check them in, ensure they were properly prepped, monitor the
process of surgery and the safety during surgery, and care after surgery making
sure everything medically was okay. Before surgery, they informed what exactly
was being performed and had them sign the consent. The RN plays a big role of
teaching and education before and after. For example, we saw an ACL repair
done and the nurse educated on how long it would take among other things, and
then after they talked about follow up appointments, what to watch out for, and
aftercare.
4. Identify the role of the Child Life specialist in the operative environment.
a. Today, the child life specialist was almost the last person to talk to patient and
family. She was really good at calming the anxieties of both parties and supported
them through that more than the nurses and doctors could. Today, one patient was
very nervous and crying and the child life specialist walked into surgery with her
5. Impression
a. I had a really good day today. Everyone was so nice, including the surgeon, and
taught us everything they could. No one ignored us or tried to push us to the side.
It seemed like a very positive work environment, and I enjoyed the flow of things.