reviewed compliance of
completing the risk assess-
ment form and provided
feedback letters to surgeons
with missed opportunities.
4. Patient
compliance
SCDs certainly are not
always comfortable, but
they are necessary. That is
why patient education is an
important part of a VTE pre-
vention protocol. Focus on
how you can train your
nurses to educate patients
as to why SCDs or chemo-
prophylaxis is needed for
safety purposes. Fully
inform patients about what
a blood clot is, what the SCD or blood thinner does, and how VTE can
be a serious and potentially life-threatening complication.
It's important to review and assess documentation related to patient
refusal of SCDs, including follow-up documentation of patient educa-
tion performed and physician notification of the refusal. With nurses
educating patients on the importance of SCDs, we have seen the num-
ber of patients refusing to wear SCDs decreasing.
5. Effective communication
Include SCD checks throughout the course of the perioperative phase.
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 1 1
• PEER PRESSURE Understand your frontline nurses' workflow, and
effectively integrate VTE prevention into it.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
