argue that patients who have the brief experience of pain followed by
treatment are actually better able to appreciate the pain relief.
The overall efficiency of the facility remains our focus, so we have no
problem performing blocks in the immediate post-anesthesia period
shortly after the patient emerges. It's a compromise made by the anes-
thesia team in order to maintain efficiencies and show surgeons that we
won't impede their case throughput just for the sake of placing blocks.
2
Block nurses
Having a dedicated block nurse — not a pre-op nurse who gets
pulled once in a while to help out — who specializes in sup-
porting a regional anesthesia program is an important part of maintain-
ing efficiencies. Block nurses educate patients about block procedures
and ensure they know to look for potential side effects when they're
recovering at home. They make sure anesthetics, supply trays and
equipment are accounted for before blocks are placed. They draw the
local anesthetic into syringes and connect a needle to the syringe,
readying it for injection. They bring the ultrasound machine to the bed-
side and make sure the area is set and ready, so the anesthesia
provider can focus solely on administering the block when he arrives.
During the block placement, block nurses aspirate to ensure an
extravascular needle location then inject the local anesthetic with a
low amount of force in order to avoid high-pressure injuries. They
monitor vital signs while the anesthesia provider remains focused on
the procedure. After the block is placed, the nurses complete proce-
dural paperwork. The anesthesia provider reviews it quickly for accu-
racy before adding his signature. Instead of filling out and rechecking
boilerplate forms, anesthesia providers are free to focus on starting
blocks and other clinical tasks.
6 6
O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5
