O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 3 9
Don't assume every member of your surgical team
knows about the dangers of hypo-thermia. During a
patient warming project initiated at my former hospi-
tal, I was surprised by how many of my colleagues
were unaware of the adverse events associated with
hypothermia.
To drive the point home and garner support for
improved warming protocols, track core body tem-
peratures in pre-op, the OR and PACU over the
course of several months to determine how many
patients are hypothermic. Present that hard data to your surgeons and staff, and share
case studies and clinical outcomes of patients who became hypothermic under their
care. Using real-life examples involving patients your staff cared for — and likely
remember — will make the issue real for them, and will increase the likelihood that
they'll back your process improvement plans.
I used real data when implementing the patient warming improvement project, and
the staff quickly realized they weren't doing enough to protect their patients from avoid-
able adverse outcomes. At the launch of the project, 92% of our patients were normoth-
ermic when they reached the PACU. That might seem acceptable, but if 8% of patients
are hypothermic at a high-volume facility, too many of them are being unnecessarily
exposed to adverse events and bad outcomes.
Soon after managing hypothermia became a team mission, 100% of our patients
were adequately warmed when they reached recovery. Accept no less at your facility.
Invest the time and effort to analyze the effectiveness of your warming protocols,
because one cold patient is one too many.
— Kim York, BSN, MS, RN, CNOR, CSSM
CASE STUDY
Conduct a Patient
Warming Improvement Project
REAL DATA Track patients' core body tempera-
tures to measure your hypothermia rate.
