Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can present significant challenges in providing postoperative
care. OSA policies have been developed and are in place within many facilities; however,
a standard OSA protocol ensuring the safe delivery of postoperative care has not been
universally accepted into practice. A synthesis of current OSA literature led to the
development of a comprehensive evidence-based checklist to improve patient safety
and direct the management of postoperative care for diagnosed or suspected OSA patients
throughout their hospitalization. The checklist describes interventions for providing
care in the immediate postoperative phase and sleep-specific interventions. These
interventions include guidelines for postoperative assessment, continuous monitoring,
extubation readiness, pain management, sleep positioning, respiratory monitoring,
and continuous positive airway pressure therapy. The implementation of this checklist
with the synergistic effect of the combined interventions may lead to a greater improvement
in the care, safety, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes of OSA patients.
Keywords
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Biography
Brian T. Gammon, RN, BSN, CCRN, is a Staff Nurse at Duke University Hospital, and Karen F. Ricker, RRT, MSN, CRNA is Associate Clinical Faculty at Duke School of Nursing, Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center & Durham Regional Hospital.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 13, 2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
