40% said fewer pain medications are needed for patients that are warmed
and 37% said warming decreases complications from anesthesia.
Susan Franklin, RN, an infection preventionist at WellStar Cobb
Hospital in Austell, Ga., recently completed a study of patients with
SSIs, and found hypothermia was a factor — and instituted patient-
warming practices as a solution.
"More than 75% of patients with SSIs were hypothermic," says Ms.
Franklin. "Hypothermia is rarely a problem intraoperatively now."
Ms. Robinson notes that reducing patients' anxiety helps to reduce
some of the other clinical complications the respondents noted. Less
anxiety can lead to less post-operative pain, which means less medica-
tion is needed, and anxiety has been shown to prolong recovery times.
Many ways to warm
Nearly 86% use a forced-air warming system, and 80% use cotton
blankets pre-warmed in a blanket warmer. Lesser-used methods:
14% use a spinal underbody blanket, thermal mattress or bed pad
on which the patients lie; 8% use radiant warming devices and
nearly 6% use conductive polymer fabrics that warm patients from
above and below simultaneously.
Eva Robbins, RN, BSN, surgery/specialty manager at Carroll County
Memorial Hospital in Carrollton, Ky., says they warm all patients with
cotton blankets from a warmer, as well as a forced-air warming sys-
tem. The practice leads to happy patients and averts clinical complica-
tions, she says.
"We continue to have satisfied patients, and we do not have any
hypothermia cases in our surgery department," says Ms. Robbins.
An underused solution?
About 37% of respondents said they do not routinely warm patients.
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