[sharann]

Do you transfer a patient from the OR to the Recovery room with or without oxygen?

If you do not, please tell me the rationale behind it. I don't get it personally. I have wondered why a pt requiring an oral or nasal airway can be transported from OR to RR without O2. They are after all, just waking or ABOUT to wake from general anesthesia (I'm not including the ones who have only Spinals or local MAC etc..)
Thanks in advance you guys!

[Helpin'Heart]

In my OR, we ALWAYS transport pt's with O2, whether they've had a GA or Spinal.
Who is telling you not to?

[shodobe]

I think it has to also with distance from room to RR. Where I work we are not any further than 100 ft. I know with larger units such as where rooms can be quite a ways from RR, it would be wise to use oxygen. We use it but not very much. Mike
PS, it also is at the discretion of anesthesia, some use it 100% some not at all, nothing wrong with it.

[sharann]

Helpinheart,
The OR staff brings them all without O2.
The anesthesiologists should be the ones concerned about this, but as a circulator RN, don't they have reason to be an advocate for the pts? Once, they brought a pt in without O2, who had a ET tube in! Excuse me? I would have thought at least this one would be bagged at least from OR to PACU. Oh well. I just chart "O2 APPLIED in PACU" which covers my butt. I don't have a problem with this practice as long as the pt is unharmed.

[stevierae]

In California, all the ORs transport with O2, routinely. I think that's a good idea--after all, can it hurt?

But, I worked registry at a hospital in Portland in December; the anesthesia resident actually seemed offended that I suggested it and sniffed, "I don't know where YOU'RE from, but I wouldn't have extubated my patient in the FIRST place or moved him from the table if I thought he couldn't breathe on his own."

I told him I lived here, but that I noticed that it was standard practice wherever I worked in California. He said, condescendingly, "Figures!"

What a freakin' prima donna. He'll learn, the first time he has a patient with respiratory distress en route and he has to give mouth- to -mouth.

[nrw350]

From the patient side of this, I would say transport all patients from OR to RR on O2!!! Never know when one might have a re-lapse from the anesthestics. As a patient (when I was a child) who had problems breathing after GA suregery, the O2 would have been greatly appreciated.

Nick

[rnor]

We transport our patients without O2...but it is not even 50ft. from our surgery rooms to PACU. If the pt. has had problems then they are put on O2, but he majority are not.

[sharann]

Thank you all for your replies. I guess it just depends on how they feel like doing things. I hope no one ever does get harmed though. It would be so lame and unecessary.