Poster Presentation
Thursday, July 12, 2007
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
Anemia Management in the Orthopaedic Patient A Nursing Perspective
Heather E. Mingo, RN, BScN, MSc, FNP, Anesthesia, Perioperative Blood Management Program, QEII Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada
| Learning Objective #1: assess anemia or risk for anemia in postoperative orthopaedic patients. |
| Learning Objective #2: identify the appropriate nursing strategies to manage anemia. |
An opportunity to improve nurses’ decision-making in anemia treatment in the orthopaedic patient was identified by the program coordinator of the Blood Conservation Program and the orthopaedic clinical nurse educators.
The purpose of the project was to develop a tool for nurses to assess anemia, or risk for anemia, in postoperative orthopaedic patients. The “tool” included identification of appropriate nursing strategies to manage anemia.
A guideline was developed to support nurses in their clinical decisions related to the management of anemia in orthopaedic patients.
The project included:
A literature review to identify best practice in anemia management:
Development of the “tool” for nurses to use with anemia in orthopaedic patients
Developing/adopting best practice guidelines for anemia management
Developing a patient teaching pamphlet on management of anemia
Providing nursing education on anemia management and how to use the “tool”
Assessing nursing knowledge by developing and implementing a pre/post test
Satisfaction survey to evaluate patient outcomes (To be developed)
There are many strategies to manage anemia other than blood transfusion. Hemoglobin can be increased by several options including EPO, oral and IV iron, vitamin supplements, as well as a high iron diet. This project helped build nurses' confidence and offers a framework for making patient care decisions for management of postoperative anemia during hospital admission and after discharge.
We feel that this project has developed a standardized approach to the follow-up of identified anemic patients. Poster and pocket cards were developed for staff and contributed to the project’s success.