First day of surgery

An energized team arrives at the hospital at 8AM, grab their scrubs and move to their stations.

The first patients arrive in pre-op soon after. The nursing staff review consent forms, take vital signs, determine the last time the patient ate, and verify which leg is going to be operated on. Most adult patients have banked their own blood, and the staff make sure that that blood is available. Name bands are checked. The surgery is explained once again to the patient or the parents.

Meanwhile, the surgeons are discussing procedures in the next room. They use a window for an x-ray light, and make a paper cut-out of a patient's tibia and fibula, to visualize and discuss a surgery that will happen tomorrow.

Drs. Katherine Cabrejo-Jones and Marc Moreau examine an x-ray taped to a window

The group of surgeons discusses a complex case

There are seven surgeries scheduled today – 3 pediatric and 4 adults.

 

Patients start the day in Pre-op and are returned the Ward after surgery.(More about Surgery and Recovery Room in a later post.) CAMTA nurses and local nurses employed by the Tierra Nueva Foundation (the group that runs the hospital) work co-operatively to care for our patients. Before the CAMTA nurses arrive in the morning, the Tierra Nueva (TN) have completed patients' paperwork and checked charts. Most patients have been fasting since midnight, so they are given IV fluids to help rehydrate. This morning, the CAMTA nurses had a bit of difficulty starting two patients' IVs. The local nurses taught us a new method for getting the lines started. 

 

When the surgery is over, the patient is returned to the Ward. Since most adult patients have spinal anesthetic they are awake when they arrive. Nurses continue to assess vital signs and monitor the patients. 

Julio gives a “thumbs up” as Recovery Room Nurse Mairi Gordon wheels him back to Recovery

 

Physiotherapists help the patient get up and walking as soon as possible. The rule of thumb is when the patient can wiggle his toes. 

 

The patients will spend the night in the hospital, under the care of TN nurses. Communication of orders is crucial, and once again our translators make sure that everyone understands the overnight care plan. 

Nurses Melisa Martin, Natalie Klawitter and Amanda English prepare take-home meds