blocks so we could reduce the number of opioids we were giving our
patients. What wasn't good, however, was how unprepared we were
for such growth. We went from doing just a few blocks in a day to up
to 20. That's when things got chaotic.
We were trying to do too many things at once: prep patients for sur-
gery, perform nerve blocks and epidurals, and bring patients from the
floor for pain blocks. Did I mention that we also run an ambulatory
eye center in the same area where all of this intermingling of activity
was happening?
There was only one solution to restore order: standardize our block
procedures and develop clear protocols on preparing and performing
blocks.
Our block process used to be as follows: On the day of surgery, an
anesthesiologist would determine whether we were going to do a
block. More often than not, that would delay getting the patient into
surgery on time and cause anxiety for the patient because no one had
discussed the block with him.
Plus, it wreaked havoc on our staffing. Nurses would get pulled out
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