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Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

Contact Congress Over Drug Shortage Issues

A Kentucky congressman is urging surgical facilities to contact their members of Congress and request that they sign his letter demanding changes to...

N.J. Posts ASC Inspection Reports Online

State and federal inspection reports of New Jersey's ASCs are now available online, giving patients an opportunity to make more informed choices abo...

Are Opioids Necessary?

While it's not always practical, or even possible, to eliminate opioids from your post-op pain management regiment, reducing their use in favor of n...

Archive > November, 2008 Vol. IX, No. 11

Letters & E-mails

Regional Block Safety

Regional Block Safety
Re: "The Path to Regional Success" (October, page 47). Regional nerve blocks are wonderful for post-op pain management and are far safer for our patients — provided we don't circumvent the protocols that keep patients safe in the first place. While I agree with most of Dr. Rice's approach to performing more regional nerve blocks, I have great concern about administering a block before the surgeon arrives. Blocks are usually done on sites that have laterality, meaning someone must first identify the right or left side. While the patient, circulator and anesthesia provider play a part in this identification, the surgeon must be the one to mark the site. If you give a block "cold turkey" without benefit of anxiolytics or amnesics, the surgeon hasn't participated in site identification. If your providers slip the patient a little Versed "Mickey" to help with relaxation, that prevents the patient from actively participating in site identification with the surgeon. This is a very dangerous practice if medications are given that could in any way alter a patient's mentation or thought processes.

Glenna Montgomery, RN, BSN
Director of Surgical Services
Yavapai Regional Medical Center East
Prescott Valley, Ariz.
gfmontgo@yrmc.org

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Regional Block Safety; Let's Call Equipment By Proper Name; Blame Game; MDA-CRNA Debate Rages On; What About Hissing Nurses?; Is Ankle Synovectomy Separately Billable?; For the Record; Academy; American Academy; Anesthetists; Association; BSN Co-owner; BSN Director; Bauman, CRNA, JD Bauman Law Firm; Bettin Senior Director, Communications American Association; Blocks; Bovie; CCI; CRNA; CRNA, JD Bauman Law Firm; CRNAs; Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists; Coding Initiative; Coke; Commission's National Patient Safety Goals; Communications American Association; Correct Coding Initiative; Direc... show all keywords
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