what is Postoperative?

Postoperative
From the time of admission to recovery to the follow-up home/clinic evaluation.

Intraoperative

Intraoperative
From the time the patient is received in the operating room until admitted to the recovery room

What is Preoperative ?

Preoperative
From the time the decision is made for surgical intervention to the transfer of the patient to the operating room.

What is Perioperative?

Perioperative
Generalised term referring to the time of surgery and pertains to the time in hospital from admission to discharge.

Nurse anesthesia jobs

So what they do?It takes a lot of people to make a surgical procedure a success. Of course, the surgeon is important. So are the assisting doctors and nurses. But also critical to the outcome of any surgery is the anesthetist, who makes sure that a patient is safely anesthetized during an operation.


It's up to the nurse anesthetist to evaluate patients before surgery and assess their anesthesia risk factors. Anesthesia can be a very tricky thing, and in the past, one in every 10,000 patients who received anesthesia actually died as a reaction to the drugs. Today, that death rate has fallen to one in every 250,000, but anesthesia still can present other kinds of risks to patients. Consequently nurse anesthetists really have to know their stuff, collaborating with surgeons and anesthesiologists to determine the best means of delivering anesthesia for everything from tonsillectomies to open-heart surgeries. CRNAs also provide anesthesia for some radiology procedures as well as for office procedures in areas like dental and plastic surgery.

Most anesthesia drugs are either breathed into the lungs or injected into the veins through an intravenous line in the hand or arm. Nurse anesthetists administer these medications as well as any other medications used to prevent movement during procedures.


Nurse anesthetists closely monitor the patient during a procedure. They keep a sharp eye on oxygen levels in the blood, blood pressure, heart rate and other functions during an operation, making sure the patient's condition remains stable. If conditions should change--and vital signs can take a turn for the worse in a matter of seconds--they have to be prepared to react instantly. When the procedure is over and the medication is turned off, nurse anesthetists continue to monitor patients to make sure that there are no ill after effects from the anesthesia.

How they spend their time:

• Assessing and evaluating the patient before anesthesia is administered
• Obtaining consent for anesthesia
  Requesting consultations and diagnostic studies
• Selecting, and administering pre-anesthetic medication and fluids, anesthetics, and the drugs and fluids necessary to manage the anesthesia
• Collecting and interpreting patient’s medical information
• Monitoring and managing a patient’s respiratory status during procedure and after surgery
  
  
  
  
  

What is Anesthesia?

The loss of feeling or sensation. It may be accomplished without the loss of consciousness, or with partial or total loss of consciousness.
Anesthesiology is a branch of medical science that relates to anesthesia and anesthetics. The anesthetist is a specialized physician in charge of supervising and administering anesthesia in the course of a surgical operation. Depending on the type of operation and procedures used, there are two types of anesthesia: general anesthesia, which causes a loss of consciousness, and local anesthesia, where the anesthetic "freezes" the nerves in the area covered by the operation. In local anesthesia, the patient may be conscious during the course of the operation or given a sedative, a drug that induces sleep.
While the search for pain control during surgery dates back to the ancient world, it was not until 1846 that it went on record that a patient was successfully rendered unconscious during a surgical procedure. Performed in a Boston hospital, the operation used a gas called ether to anesthetize the patient while a neck tumor was removed. In Western medicine, the development of anesthesia has made possible complex operations like open heart surgery and organ transplants. Medical tests that would otherwise be impossible to perform are routinely carried out with the use of anesthesia.
Before the landmark discovery of ether as an anesthetic, patients who needed surgery for either illness or injury had to face the surgeon's knife with only the help of alcohol, opium, or other narcotic. Often a group of men held the patient down during the operation in case the narcotic or alcohol wore off before it was over. Under these conditions many patients died just from the pain of the operation.
Nitrous oxide, another gas still commonly used in dentistry, minor surgery, and some major surgery, was discovered in 1776 by British chemist Joseph Priestly. Another early anesthetic, chloroform, was discovered in 1847 by James Young Simpson. The Scottish gynecologist and obstetrician was searching for an anesthetic that would make bearing children less painful for women. Chloroform use, though, had higher risks than those associated with ether, and it called for greater skill from the physician. Neither ether nor chloroform are used in surgery today.
Anesthesiology as a medical specialty was slow to develop. By the end of the 19th century, ether was administered by "etherizers" who had little medical experience, including students, new physicians, non-medical specialists, nurses, and caretakers. Eventually, nurses began to be used for this job, becoming the first anesthetists by the end of the 19th century.
While the practice of surgery began to make considerable progress by the turn of the century, anesthesiology lagged behind. In the 20th century, though, the need for specialists in anesthesia was sparked by two world wars and advanced surgical techniques. To meet these demands, the American Society of Anesthetists was formed in 1931 and specialists were then certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1937. By 1986, the Board certified 13,145 specialists—physicians and nurses, called nurse anesthetists—in the field of anesthesiology.
Modern anesthesiology can be divided into two types, pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Pharmacological anesthesia uses a wide variety of anesthetic agents to obtain varying degrees of sedation and pain control. The anesthesia is administered orally, by injection, or with a gas mask for inhalation. Examples of non-pharmacological anesthesia are the use of breathing techniques during conscious childbirth delivery (Lamaze method of natural childbirth) and the ancient art of Chinese acupuncture. Non-pharmacological anesthesia requires special skills on the part of its practitioners, and its effects are not as reliable as pharmacological techniques.
Pharmacological anesthesia is described as either general or local. There are three phases to general anesthesia. The anesthetist must first induce the state of unconsciousness (induction), keep the patient unconscious while the procedure is performed (maintenance), then allow the patient to emerge back into consciousness (emergence).
Administration of the anesthetic is usually accomplished by the insertion of a cannula (small tube) into a vein. Sometimes a gas anesthetic may be introduced through a mask. If a muscle relaxant is used, the patient may not be able to breathe on his own, and a breathing tube is passed into the windpipe (trachea). The tube then serves either to deliver the anesthetic gases or to ventilate (oxygenate) the lungs.
During the course of the surgery, the anesthesiologist maintains the level of anesthetic needed to keep up the patient's level of anesthesia to the necessary state of unawareness while monitoring vital functions, such as heart beat, breathing, and blood/gas exchange.
There are a number of possible complications that can occur under general anesthesia. They include loss of blood pressure, irregular heart beat, heart attack, vomiting and then inhaling the vomit into the lungs, coma, and death. Although mishaps do occur, the chance of a serious complication is extremely low. Avoidance of complications depends on a recognition of the condition of the patient before the operation, the choice of the appropriate anesthetic procedure, and the nature of the surgery itself.
Local anesthetics block pain in regions of the body without affecting other functions of the body or overall consciousness. They are used for medical examinations, diagnoses, minor surgical and dental procedures, and for relieving symptoms of minor distress, such as itching, toothaches, and hemorrhoids. They can be taken as creams, ointments, sprays, gels, or liquid; or they can be given by injection and in eye drops.
Some local anesthetics are benzocaine, bupivacaine, cocaine, lidocaine, procaine, and tetracaine. Some act rapidly and have a short duration of effect, while others may have a slow action and a short duration. They act by blocking nerve impulses from the immediate area to the higher pain centers. Regional anesthetics allow for pain control along a wider area of the body by blocking the action of a large nerve (nerve block). Sprays can be used on the throat and related areas for a bronchoscopy, and gels can be used for the urethra to numb the area for a catherization or cystoscopy.
Spinal anesthesia is used for surgery of the abdomen, lower back, and legs. Spinal or "epidural" anesthesia is also used for surgery on the prostate gland and hip. A fine needle is inserted between two vertebrae in the lumbar (lower part) of the spine, and the anesthetic flows into the fluid which surrounds the spinal cord. The nerves absorb the anesthetic as they emerge from the spinal fluid. The anesthetized area is controlled by the location of the injection and the amount of absorption by the spinal fluid.
It is possible to have adverse reactions to local anesthetics, such as dizziness, hypotension (low blood pressure), convulsions, and even death. These effects are rare but can occur if the dose is too high or if the drug has been absorbed too rapidly. A small percentage of patients (1-5%) may develop headaches with spinal anesthesia.
Babies born to mothers who have been administered anethetics during labor and delivery often show anesthetic effects for a period of time after birth. Medication given to women immediately before delivery passes through the placenta to the baby. While the effects of the anesthetic wear off relatively quickly for the mother, it takes the baby's immature system longer to process it out of the body. Affected babies frequently appear lethargic and unresponsive for longer periods of time after birth than babies delivered without maternal medication. While use of anesthetics by the mother is not believed to have any permanent impact on the baby, many pediatricians contend difficulties in breastfeeding and maternal bonding can result from babies' unresponsive behavior in the early days of life.
Special care also must be taken when administering anesthetics to children. Allergic or anaphylactic reactions to a particular medication are difficult to predict, particularly in younger patients who have experienced fewer medical procedures.
Since World War II, many changes have taken place in anesthesiology. Important discoveries have been made with such volatile liquids as halothane and synthetic opiates. The technology of delivery systems has been greatly improved. But with all these changes, the basic goal of anesthesia has been the same—the control of a motionless surgical field in the patient. In the next fifty years it is possible that the goals of anesthesia will be widened. The role of anesthesia will broaden as newer surgical techniques develop in the area of organ transplants. Anesthesia may also be used in the future to treat acute infectious illness, mental disorders, and different types of heart conditions. There may be a wide range of new therapeutic applications for anesthesia.

Nurse Anesthetist

A nurse anesthetist (AE) is a registered nurse and advanced practice nurse who has acquired additional education and training to administer anesthesia. The title, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), reflects the nurse's qualifications and abilities.

Health Promotion

Promoting health and wellness within a community is one of the responsibilities of a nurse. First of all, what do we mean by community? In simple definition, a community is a group of people or a population usually defined by geographic boundary. So, what makes a community healthy? Well, a healthy community is where a visible commitment to achieve health and wellbeing, and most importantly, it must be sustainable. The key to community health is quality and equality of sharing and caring that occurs in the community. According to WHO, essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at the cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self- reliance and self determination. Health care services should respond to the needs of the population with openness to the community. It should be structured in a way to allow community members to make informed choices. It should also be developed to maintain or increase peoples control over their own health.

Words Part In Medical Terminology -Words Roots

Word Roots

A words root is the part of the term thats provided the fundamental meaning of the term, for example reffering to a specific body part or body system:-

Eg. Este Refer to Bone

Medical Terminology For Nurses- Part 2

The aim of this learning module are for you to develop an understanding of medical terminology and to be able to identify the meaning of unfamiliar terms by using a structured approach to break down the term into its component parts and then deduce its meaning.



There are four types of word parts used in different combinations to form medical terms and language.

1. Word roots




2. Suffixes




3. Combining vowels




4. Prefixes

The words or terms used may seem long and strange. Let's have an example.

Osteoarthritis

This term is actually composed of different word elements, each with a specific meaning.

Eg: Oste + arthr + itis

Oste relates to bone

arthr refers to a joint, and

itis means inflammation.

Therefore osteoarthritis means inflammation of the bone and joint. These word elements comes from Greek and Latin words. Therefore, you will need to know the English translations for these word elements. By knowing the different word parts (such as oste and arthr) you can easily identify the meaning of a wide range of medical terms, even if you have never seen or heard of the term before.

A Guide to Medical Terminology For Nurses- Part 1

The ability to communicate effectively with other health professionals and the ability to accurately describe observations and events are important skills for nurses. Health professionals use a standard structured way of describing events or conditions and are therefore able to communicate accurately and concisely with each other. For example, a nurse may describe a patient's pulse as bradycardic, and this conveys a specific message ( a slow heart rate) to other health professionals familiar with medical language and terminology. Initially, the terms may seem complex and difficult to understand, but by using a structured approach with some knowledge of the meanings of the different parts of the term, you will be able to understand and communicate effectively in the clinical enviroment.

A Nurse

A nurse can become work as :-

• Midwife
• Health Visitor
• Children's Nurse
• Adult Nurse
• Learning Disability Nurse
• Mental Health Nurse
• School Nurse
• Occupatunational Health Nurse
• District Nurse
• Practice Nurse
• Research Nurse
• Nurse Educator
• Specialist Nurse
• Nurse Consultant
• Nurse Practitoner
• Prison Nurse
• Manager
• Nurse Leturer
• Matron
• Enrolled Nurse
• Assistance In Nursing
• Registered Nurse

I will explain in details on the job function individually in next post.

What kinds of jobs are there for nurses?

As a nurse,you can work in many different areas and with many different people.There are now for difference basic branches in nursing.During your pre-registration course you can become :-

• a children's nurse
• an adult nurse
• a learning disabilitynurse
• an a mental health nurse

You will need to choose usually when you apply which branch of nursing you want to enter.If you are unhappy of find yourselfvery interesred in another branch,you may be able to change.The sooner you do this ,the easier it will be.

Why choose nursing as a course of study?

Nursing as profession that focuses on the caring,nuturing,educating and research aspect of healthcare system.People who are caring,dedicated,posseses leadership and have a calling to serve the sick and improve their care should their consider using these unique qualities by choosing nursing as a career.Nursing teaches how to use minds,hands and hearts and caring for those in need.This course focuses in developing nurses who are caring,assertive,well-dicipline,motivated and equipped with critical thinking skills.

Why Choose nursing as a career?

Nursing now is different from nursing in the past. Through improved education,nurses are better prepared to take up the challenge of a career in nursing which offers a breath of opportunity in education, clinical practice, research and management. A nurse may aspire to be a university professor, a clinical specialist, a director of nursing or a researcher. An experienced nurse may also run her own nursing home or nursery and there are opportunities to pursue a career abroad.

What is a real nurse?

The public image of nursing can be fictional and has nothing to do with what happens in the 'real world' of nursing. Just do a search in the internet on nurse, and you see a lot of the results are sex symbolic related. Nurses are also being perceived as the handmaiden, where they only take orders from doctors. But in reality, nursing itself is a profession. A nurse is to stand with the patient, where science and technology interact with human suffering, and human hope for achieving wellness. A nurse makes difference between life and death, pain and comfort, healing, coping and despair. She educates clients and families about how to maintain health. She is the real bottom line in health care. She is there to provide 'connective tissue or glue that holds everything together'. Nursing at its core, is an intellectual, emotional, moral, ethical and polictical activity.

Origin of term 'Nurse'

The word nurse is of late Middle English:Contraction of ealier nourice from old french,from late latin nutricia,feminine of latin nutricious '(person) that nourishes 'from nutrix,nutric-'nurse'which is by haplology from nutri-trix =she who 'nourishes",from nutrire=to 'nourish' and originally meant a wet nurse.

Term Nurse

A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing.Nurses are reponsible along with other healthcare professional for the treatment,safety and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured people,health mainatenance of the healthy,treatment of life-threatening in wide range of health care settings.Nurses may also be involved in medical and nursing research and perform a wide range of non clinical funtion necessary to delivery of health care.