1.

Recognize the specialized nursing needs of the infant or child in a surgical environment

including preoperative, operative, and post anesthesia care unit.

a. In every aspect of pediatric surgery, the patient requires a lot more special care

and attention. In preoperative care, the parents are typically very involved in the

patient care meaning that the nurse needs to have quality communication with the

parents and patients. Also, both parents and patients are usually nervous and

scared at this part of the process and the nurse needs to be able to calm them both

down and using play therapy with the patient. In surgery, the nurse ensures that a

timeout is done and they everything is correct for the patient. During the post

anesthesia stage, the nurses need to ensure that the patient isn’t having a reaction

to the anesthesia. They watch the vitals and make sure they are normal for their

age range and they will talk to the parents of the patients condition and all that

was done in surgery.

2. Identify the interdisciplinary team approach to prepare the child for the

surgery/procedures scheduled.

a. The nurses and doctors worked very well together and maintained a solid line of

communication. The nurses went through all of the questions required for the

patient and parents and kept reassuring them that everything was going to work

well for them. Then, the child life specialist came in and gave them emotional

support and relayed their concerns to the rest of the team. The anesthesiologist

also helped in calming the patient down by trying to distract and play with the

child before the procedure started. The surgeon did similar things while marking

the extremity they were operating on.

3. Discuss the role of the RN as the primary care giver to the child and family. Include

discussion of the teaching role.

a. The RNs were there for every step of the process. They always introduced

themselves to the patient and family and what their role was at that certain step.

Their job was to check them in, ensure they were properly prepped, monitor the

process of surgery and the safety during surgery, and care after surgery making

sure everything medically was okay. Before surgery, they informed what exactly

was being performed and had them sign the consent. The RN plays a big role of

teaching and education before and after. For example, we saw an ACL repair

done and the nurse educated on how long it would take among other things, and

then after they talked about follow up appointments, what to watch out for, and

aftercare.

4. Identify the role of the Child Life specialist in the operative environment.

a. Today, the child life specialist was almost the last person to talk to patient and

family. She was really good at calming the anxieties of both parties and supported

them through that more than the nurses and doctors could. Today, one patient was

very nervous and crying and the child life specialist walked into surgery with her

and sat with her until she was under anesthesia.

5. Impression

a. I had a really good day today. Everyone was so nice, including the surgeon, and

taught us everything they could. No one ignored us or tried to push us to the side.

It seemed like a very positive work environment, and I enjoyed the flow of things.