Abstract

Poster presented at the Parkview Nursing Research Symposium, 2023.

It is a Perioperative (Periop) Standard of Care to maintain normothermia or a temperature above 36.0°C (96.9°F) for all patients receiving general anesthesia. The Parkview Randallia periop area has implemented a Bair Gown Active Warming System; this paper evaluates patient comfort, staff perception, surgical site infection (SSI) rate, and cost of said system. Previously, all patients would receive passive warming via warm blankets in preop and postop and active warming in the Operating Room (OR) via a Bair Hugger Blanket. The average preop temperatures were the same before and after implementation at 97.9°. The average intraop temperatures showed the most improvement: 96.8° pre-implementation to 97.2° post implementation. Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) average temperatures were lower post-implementation: 97.7° pre-implementation and 97.4° post implementation. We had three reportable SSIs in 2022 year to date (YTD) before implementing the Bair System. After the implementation YTD, there is only one reportable SSI for the unit. Staff did perceive that patients had less postop shivering and overall felt warmer while utilizing the Bair System. Staff also perceived that the patients enjoyed the warming and cooling features of the gowns. The Bair System has saved an average of $2,456 monthly in linen costs at Randallia. The temperature data was pulled from seventy-six charts. The pre-implementation collection period was from July 2022 and post implementation data from July 2023. YTD following implementation, Randallia has lowered reportable infection rates compared to pre-implementation: thereby improving our reputation in the eyes of our community. We significantly decreased unit linen costs. We have higher intraoperative temperatures with less variance throughout all phases of care. The staff have an increased perception of patient warmth and noticed less postop shivering

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

11-9-2023

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