Francesca RN

Thank you all for your input. I am doing a project for one of my classes and you all have been a great help! Thanks, Francesca

One of the surgeons I know did research on these types of dressings that we use. I am doing a project, and thought it would be interesting to see what others are using with the OH patients. If you would like, I could find the research he did and post it.

Thank you! Another question for you NurseStephRN, do you rewet the silverlon dressing with sterile water twice a day? Or do you leave the original dressing from surgery on the patient until removed pod 3? our protocol is to wash the incision with hibiclens daily, and rewet the silverlon dressing bid with sterile water. We also have the pts on a insulin drip for 48hrs, and monitor accuchecks ac/hs until their blood sugar is below 120 (the accuchecks will be d/c on non-diabetics if there is two consecutive blood glucose readings of Thank you ALL again for your input! Greatly appreciated :)

So I some how I got suckered into being in charge of coming up with a way to help with compliance of the core measures outlined by Joint Commision. Right now on my floor, we have a checklist on the front of our charts. It has the four main core measures (AMI, CHF, Pneumonia, SCIP). If the patient falls under one of those CM's, we have to fill in the check boxes and make sure that the requirements for that particular CM is met. Some nurses are complaining saying that it isn't our job to 'check up' and make sure the doctors are doing their jobs, EI: CHF- an echo was ordered, or ace inhibitors or an ARB was prescribed to the patient. So I am trying to formulate a way that will not take a lot of time and looking through the carts to make sure we are complying. Do you all have any suggestions or advice on what you do at your hospitals or facilities to help with compliance for the CM? Thanks Francesca

I have a question for you guys. I am doing a project on sternal dressings. I work on a step down unit, where I receive OH patients POD 1. We are using Silverlon dressings on the sternal incisions, and these dressings are to be worn for 7 days post op. We wash the incisions daily with hibiclens, and the silverlon dressing is to be wet with sterile water twice a day. One of the surgeons did research on this product and it showed to cut the infection rate by 50%. The silverlon dressing to me are interesting. I posted a message on the general nursing forum, and got some replies saying that after the first day post op, the incisions are kept OTA. What dressings (if any) are being used on your OH patients? Thanks for your input, Francesca

I am not trying to market anything. I am doing research for a class project. Where I work, we still use the Silverlon dressings for 7 days post op. We wash the incision daily with hibiclens, and we have to rewet the silverlon twice a day. One of the surgeons did research on the silverlon dressing and it showed to decrease the infection rate. This particular dressing is interesting to me, that is why i am curious to see what the hospitals are using and why. Thanks for the input everyone!

I currently work on a progressive care floor and care for post cabg and valve patients. For the past several years the surgeons having been using what is called Silverlon dressings on the sternal incisions. When researching this specific dressing, it has shown that when using the silverlon dressing for 7 days, it is able to cut sternal wound infections down by almost 50%. I am doing some research and wanting to know what kind of dressings (if any) are being used on your open heart patients? Francesca, RN