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H Y P O T H E R M I A
How Do You
Warm Your Patients?
Pamela Bevelhymer, RN, BSN
TAKE THE TIME
Perioperative
hypothermia is
associated with
poor outcomes for
patients, yet it's
preventable in
most cases.
There are many ways to prevent hypothermia.
Dan O'Connor | Editor-in-Chief
The evidence is overwhelming: Patients that are warm have far better
surgical outcomes than those that aren't. They have fewer infections,
faster emergence from anesthesia, better comfort and shorter stays in
recovery. Warm patients are also more satisfied, so thrilled that they
didn't shiver through surgery that they'll write you a thank-you letter.
"It's extremely comforting and reassuring to be kept warm. Such a small gesture
goes a long way," says Yanara Reda, RN, BSN, OR team leader at the Rockland and
Bergen Surgery Center in Montvale, N.J. And yet despite the many proven benefits,
the practice of warming is highly variable, dependent on such factors as the length
and type of procedure, the mode of anesthesia, the patient's age and even the warming device(s) you use, according to last month's Outpatient Surgery Magazine
online survey of 100 surgical facility leaders. Some key findings of our survey: