Bariatric Nursing?

Fiona59 · Jun 28, 2007

My unit handles the bariatric patients post-op. so we do all the post-op care and education. I do know that the patient is supposed to go to an eduation session prior to being accepted for surgery but it's often in a group session at one of our health centres. It's led by a nurse educator but we don't do enough of these surgeries for it to be a full time postion dealing only with bariatrics.

There is a lot of handholding and lots of personal care. The vast majority (no pun intended) of these patients are total personal care and need a lot of emotional support. They are hard on our backs. I remember one who needed FIVE staff members to reposition him, two on one leg. Very self centred and impatient, couldn't understand why we couldn't do everything faster.

A very needing patient group.

tkhayman · Jun 28, 2007

Hello everyone,

I can give you a few ideas since i do work per diem in a large bariatric clinic. We do both the lap band and gastric bypass. We do the consults, pre-op (where they have to come in, sign consent,finish up blood work), then the follow up appointments. I know the full time nurses deal with the phone calls from the patients. We also require if they smoke to quit (short term) before surgery, no pregnancy i think for the first 1or 2 years. It is mandatory for them to see the dietician and social worker as well as attend a class. There is also a support group for them.

There is a whole lot more involvement if you are full time staff, the nurse has to make sure they are cleared for surgery and keep them on track with the follow up appointments,etc.

For me it has been really educational and have seen patients improve, with lowering of blood cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and a few other co-morbidities. It does also have it's bad side effects, such as too much weight loss, malnutrition, vitamin deficiency. so that is why they need monitoring basically for life.

I hope this information helps.

cannew304 · Jun 28, 2007

I'm a new grad, but I did my senior synthesis practicum on a bariatric surgery unit, and found it to be quite the experience. At this particular hospital, we handled pre-op patients (education re: the surgery, the post-op diet, possible complications, family support, placement etc.), fresh post-op patients (working on pain control, infection control, ambulating, gastric bypass diet), and then dealt with a lot of the patients who were suffering from complications. Patients had DVT's, PE's, muscle atrophy, respiratory problems, bleeding, malnutrition etc, and all were challenging because of their size.

In general, this unit was similar to any surgical unit. You dealt with patients before and after surgery, and helped them work through the difficulties that inevitably arise. Family is very involved. I know you weren't talking about direct care, but nursing with any bari patient is going to involve a lot of education, reinforcement, and therapeutic listening, regardless of whether you're in a hospital or outpatient clinic.

SteveNNP, MSN, NP · Jun 28, 2007

I couldn't do it..... my back gets stiff after working with 2lb babies, let alone morbidly obese people who are unable to care for themselves.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Jun 28, 2007

I couldn't do it..... my back gets stiff after working with 2lb babies, let alone morbidly obese people who are unable to care for themselves.

Ditto that.

cannew304 · Jun 28, 2007

I agree!!! Which is why I'm now working on a peds unit. Nevertheless, it was a good experience.