Re: Hi everyone! A question about orthopaedics
You will want to familiarize yourself with total hip / total knee precautions (proper ambulation techniques, transfers, etc), your physical therapist will be able to provide you with this information. Also learn how to perform appropriate neurovascular assessments, and review your facilities procedures for administering blood transfusions, which you will do often. Learn about the different forms of post-op anticoagulation used on your unit, e.g., lovenox, coumadin, aspirin, as well as pain control (big issue in ortho). Most importantly, learn proper body mechanics that will save your back, as you will be assisting patients with transfers as some of these patients can be difficult to move, especially during the initial post-op phase. Your ortho unit may have pre-written protocols for many of these issues...ask for copies so that you may review them. There is so much more to learn. Good luck!
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