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Infection Control & Infection Prevention

Risk Management

Maintaining Normothermia During Hip and Knee Arthroplasty #1091 (1.00 CH)

1091 - Maintaining Normothermia During Hip and Knee Arthroplasty #1091 (1.00 CH)

Speaker(s)

• SO

  Sonja Orff, MS, RN, CNL

  Quality & Safety Coordinator
  Maine Medical Center
  Portland, ME
• 

  Jessica Atkinson, BSN, RN

  Operating Room Manager
  Maine Medical Center
  Hollis, Maine

Normothermia during surgery is essential to reduce risks and complications of hypothermia. However, maintaining normothermia for patients in the OR is often challenging. Intraoperatively, surgical lights, surgical gowns, hoods, and set room temperatures may affect the efficiency of the surgical team. Creating balance between patient normothermia and the surgical team’s comfort is paramount. The purpose of this presentation is to share the findings of a quality improvement initiative in our 637 bed hospital that standardized ambient room temperature while maintaining normothermia in hip and knee arthroplasty patients by combining active and passive warming techniques.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the importance of active pre-warming.
• Describe the direct effect pre-warming has on maintaining normothermia during and after the operative procedure.
• Discuss how room temperature affects the surgical team's comfort during single joint arthroplasty.
• Discuss how room temperature has a lack of impact on patient normothermia during this initiative.