Postoperative vital signs frequency

[Mellissa1]

Hi there,

I am a nursing student, I'm currently doing my research paper, and would like some info on the policies from various hospitals regarding post operative vitals/obs frequency etc. I am struggling to find current literature on this, I would appreciate any information, links, copies of policies etc. Thanks!

[nurseintx0511]

We do q15 min x 2, q30 min x 2, then q1 hour x 4.

[TX.RN.Shannon]

Our policy states q 15" x 4, q 30" x 2, q 1 hr x 2---for vitals.

No specific policy on observation/assessment.

[vkotyay]

Could you please specify for me what the X 2 mean exactly?

[brownbook]

X 2... means you take the patients vitals 2 times. So vitals q 15 X 2 means you take the vitals at 10:00, (number 1), then at 10:15 (number 2). q 1 hr times 2...you take the vitals at 12:00 then again at 1:00.

Melissa I don't know if you want to keep it simple....acute care hospital post op vitals for moderate to major surgeries.

Or take into account free standing clinics, out patient surgery procedures? Even acute care hospitals do minor out patient procedures, a patient may get two vitals every 10 minutes then be out the door.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Ours is q 15 min x4, q 30 min x2, and then hourly. I work in an ICU so hourly is the default frequency; of course if they're on a vasoactive drip or otherwise unstable, we do them more frequently

[vkotyay]

Hah it's so simple. Too much drug book reading must have muddled my break. Thank you for your answer.

[loriangel14, RN]

Do you mean vitals in the PACU or once they reach the floor? Ours are Q4H after they reach the floor until otherwise indicated.

[firstinfamily, RN]

You could look into the PACU(Post Anesthesia Care Unit) where pts are usually recovered after surgery before they go to the med-surg units. With strokes we are usually doing neuro assessments every 15 minutes x2, every half hour x2 and then hourly while trying to get them moved to an acute facility. Rarely did we recover post-op CABG patients but when we did we were taking vital signs about every 5 minutes and graduate from there to every 15, every 30 etc. until some stability was evident. Usually there are guidelines or protocols for every facility that you could find in the nursing policy and procedure books at those facilities. Good Luck!!

[afterseason, ASN, RN]

In my peds PACU we do vitals Q 5 mins x4, then Q 15 mins until they wake. Peds tend to recover pretty quickly, so they're usually awake within 30-45 mins. After a neuro assessment and assured stability, they leave my care.