Post Anaesthetic Recovery Unit Nurse: Physical and Emotional Safety

This article discusses the role of post-operative nurses in ensuring physical and emotional safety of patients after surgery. It covers topics such as post anaesthetic recovery unit nursing, confidentiality, clinical nurse specialists, and advanced nursing practice. The article emphasizes the importance of maintaining confidentiality and providing appropriate care to patients during the recovery period.

Running Head: PARU 1
Post Anaesthetic Recovery Unit Nurse: Physical and Emotional Safety (Module 1,
2 and 3)
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
1706 Words

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Module 1
Physical and Emotional Safety
Post-operative nurses ensure that suitable patient nursing care is implemented after
surgery (Bingham, Walsh & Ford, 2018). They assess the physical, psychological and
social statuses of patients after the surgical procedures. Safety issues arise quite often after
surgeries necessitating the presence of post-operative nurses. The nurses help to alleviate
physical pain that results from surgical operations as well as provide emotional support.
These nurses ensure that patients are fully conscious, have a satisfactory health condition
and no infections affect the surgical wounds at the time of recovery (Akhtar, 2013). Post-
operative nurse ensure that the mistakes done by peri-operative nurses are corrected.
However, extreme workload, shortage of staff, training and equipment challenges
compromise the patient’s safety (Redley et al., 2016). These factors contribute to stress in
nurses thereby affecting their performance (Lim, 2018).
Post Anaesthetic Recovery Unit Nursing
Post anaesthetic recovery nursing involves the assessment and management of
patients in the early stages of recovery period after a surgical or anaesthetic procedure
(Nursing, 2017). Post anaesthetic observation of patients is an important requirement in
patients’ assessment and analysis of medical deterioration in anaesthetic and surgical
procedures (Melbourne, 2018). This assessment seeks to outline the safety issues that arise
during the post anaesthetic recovery unit nursing. Post anaesthetic recovery unit nurses
ensure that patients are coping well and help them stay safe after surgeries. The post-
operative care nurses assess the patients regularly; ensure careful monitoring and
appropriate documentation of the patient’s escalation ultimately. Post-operative care
involves the evaluation of the major systems of the body, for instance, cardiovascular,
renal and respiratory systems (Akhtar, 2013). The nurses also ensure that there is sufficient
relief of pain and systemic inflammatory response to infection.
There are several factors that the nurses at post-anaesthetic recovery unit check for.
These include; patient outcomes after interventions, omissions from plan of care, adverse
events, unusual assessments and social issues (Melbourne, 2018). The nurses ensure that
the pain is effectively and sufficiently managed, the plan of care is comprehensive and the
patient is safe from infections. An assortment of mechanisms is implemented globally to
distinguish and regulate specialty practices, for instance, licensing, endorsements,
validations, certifications and credentials (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia,
2018). Nurses at this speciality unit portray superlative characteristics and skills that the

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regular registered nurses do not possess. These nurses practice independently and
interdependently accountably and responsibly, manage the pain of patients effectively,
coordinate with other health professionals, possess perfect verbal and communication
skills, practice in accordance with the laws and procedures of nursing guidelines and make
evidence-informed decisions. These skills enable the nurses to easily stabilize a patient’s
condition.
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Clinical nurse specialists (CNS) are advanced practice registered nurses that work
as professionals in evidence-based nursing practice within a number of diverse specialty
areas (What is a Clinical Nurse Specialist, 2018). They incorporate their progressive
knowledge of disease processes in assessments, diagnoses and handling patient ailments.
However, their role spread out past providing patient care. The ultimate objective of
clinical nurse specialist is to offer safe, quality and economical specialty care while
working to improve the healthcare system as well. They specialize in a variety of clinical
practices, namely, type of care, medical disorders, type of problem, population and the
setting.
Advanced Nursing Practice
This is a range along which nurses advance their proficient knowledge, clinical
judgement and reasoning skills and behaviors to greater levels are perceptible (Nursing
and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2018). Nurses practising ANP integrate proficient
leadership, education and research skills into their practice. They practice effectively,
safely, accountably and responsibly within a specialist scope.
Advanced Practice Nursing
APN is distinguished from other nursing practices by the extra legislative functions
and necessities of the nursing practitioner authorization (Nursing and Midwifery Board of
Australia, 2018). The requirements include a detailed advanced nursing practice
experience, approved educational level and persistent proficient development.

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Module 2
Confidentiality
Confidentiality in nursing refers to the safeguarding and privacy of a patient’s
information in accordance with the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002
(Patient Privacy, 2018). Ethical and legal dilemmas are a major setback to nurse when it
comes to revealing a patient’s private information to carers. According to the Carer
Recognition Act 2010, carers should be treated with utmost respect and considered as
associates with the other care providers (Carer Gateway, 2018).
Carers are people who offer free care to very ill patients not necessarily their
relatives nor friends so long as the patient and the doctor approve. Nurses have an
obligation to make sure that all the vital information concerning the patient is passed on to
carers and all the information retrieved from carers is kept confidential and not disclosed
to a non-party (Leira, 2018). The confidentiality of nurses ensures a trustworthy bond
between all the parties. Furthermore, post-operative nurses have an obligation that
information on patient nursing care and treatment and medication is shared with the carer.
However, if the patient wishes to withhold some information from the carer, the nurse is
liable to the patient therefore he/she must maintain the confidentiality of the information.
Even though it is a carer’s legal right to be informed about the patient’s health
condition according to the Carer Recognition Act 2010, post-operative nurses have an
ethical liability not to share a patient’s private information without exclusive the patient’s
consent (Rodrigo, 2013). The duty to uphold confidentiality is limited during life
threatening situations whereby a patient’s safety is at risk or the patient’s health draws
interest from the public or the law thereby necessitating disclosure of information without
authorization from the patient. Nurses are required to educate patients and carers about the
scope of confidentiality. A huge number of patients prefer to reveal their health status
when an improvement is noted. In order to facilitate an understanding between carers,
nurses and patients, the confidentiality issues should be primarily discussed before and
after surgical or anaesthetic procedures. When the freedom of consent is accorded to a
carer before surgical operations, nurses would not have to be worried about ethical or legal
dilemmas.
Healthcare practitioners are required to collect information from patients with
consent from the patients. Clear and records of the information should be kept to ensure
that a comprehensive and the best treatment is offered to the patient and in some cases
used as evidence in a court of law in case a patient chooses to prosecute the nurse or

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doctor (Hextell, 2018). The nurse should also exclusively explain to the patient how and
where the information collected will be used. The explanation should be clear and
understandable to avoid future squabbles. If the patient’s health status is bound to affect
another, the doctor should seek further assistance from legal officers in order to address
the issue. Moreover, patients’ medical records’ safety should be 100% guaranteed by the
nurse and should be available anytime the patient seeks to have them.
According to the Australian Medical Association Code of Ethics, maintenance of a
patient’s confidentiality reduces the risk associated with stigma and discrimination due to
a person’s health condition, makes patients more comfortable and honest when sharing
information and also increases the confidence and trust of the public in healthcare
practitioners (Hextell, 2018). Healthcare providers have an obligation to be acquainted
with the federal legal requirements. In some states, breaching the confidentiality laws and
sharing of the patient’s information without his/her consent amounts to a criminal
transgression.

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Module 3
Reflection
Patients are often not able to assent to the use of their information if it is not clear
to them how the information and why it will be used. Patients should be informed and
advised of the use of their information especially during consultations and medical
screening and tests. The consultations and discussions should also incorporate the issue
concerning disclosure to a third party.
In a certain legal case study, a doctor acceptably and intentionally declined to
reveal the test results to one partner in a couple who had shown up at a joint consultation.
In this case, the couple showed up and cooperatively asked for HIV tests. The HIV-
negative partner (PD) futilely attempted to discover her partner’s test results from the
clinic and find out the results from her companion as well after receiving her result. Her
husband had lied to her when said that he was HIV negative. Unfortunately, PD eventually
contracted HIV infection from her husband. The doctor had not explained to the couple
that each person’s results could not be revealed to the other partner. This is an example of
why a person’s health status should be disclosed to another provided that there is consent.
If the doctor had clearly outlined the issue of confidentiality to the couple, the PD would
not have contracted HIV.
Nursing care for patients after a surgical or anaesthetic procedure is an important
nursing obligation that helps post-operative nurse avoid errors. Errors could arise from
wrong administration of medicine or disclosure of confidential information. I will try to
maximize good when providing patient care and intervention and avoid harm. Physical
harm or harm caused by disclosure of information amounts to a criminal offense according
to the national law. However, my main focus would be on the patient’s physical and
emotional safety. I would appropriately care for the patient’s surgical wound to prevent
emergence of wound infections that might bring about complications. I will ensure that all
the information that should be passed on to the carer reaches them in due time and with the
patient’s approval. I will also ensure that confidential information about a patient’s
condition is safely kept.
I will closely monitor vital signs in order to detect clinical deterioration in time.
This will help me to evaluate the patient’s treatment and come up with an appropriate plan
of care. As a post-operative care nurse, I have to monmitor the cardiovascular and
respiratory systems of patients recovering from surgical procedures. I will ensure that the
heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure are maintained at a normal level. Pain

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management of post-operative patients is an important factor in the surgical process. In
this case, wounds could easily be infected thereby causing more pain. I have to ensure that
the pain is alleviated by administering antibiotics if necessary.

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