Surgical Nursing Help!!

i think that first of all you need to keep in mind that any surgery is invasive. it involves breaking through the normal body defenses. you have to keep that in mind about each and every surgical procedure. you need to review the pathophysiology of the damaging of tissues and cells and how they heal themselves. that is a basic underlying concept that you must know. for each type of surgery you need to think about what part of the anatomy the surgeon is invading and what the consequences are of his/her intrusion into it. always keep that in the back of your mind because most of the medical orders and nursing interventions can be traced back to them as the underlying cause for what you are doing for the patient.

that aside, there are a number of postoperative complications that you are generally going to look for in all patient's undergoing general anesthesia as a result of the effect of the drugs, immobility and positioning on the surgical table during the surgical procedure. they are:

• breathing problems (atelectasis, hypoxia, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism)
  
• hypotension (shock, hemorrhage)
  
• thrombophlebitis in the lower extremity
  
• elevated or depressed temperature
  
• any number of problems with the incision/wound (dehiscence, evisceration, infection)
  
• fluid and electrolyte imbalances
  
• urinary retention
  
• constipation
  
• surgical pain
  
• nausea/vomiting (paralytic ileus)
  

you need to know these because one or more of them in an intensity from mild to severe is more than likely to show up in every surgical patient.

patients receiving epidural anesthesia might experience some of these complications:

• hypotension
  
• rash around the epidural injection site
  
• nausea and vomiting from the opiates administered
  
• pruritis of the face and neck caused by some epidural narcotics
  
• respiratory depression up to 24 hours after the epidural
  
• cerebrospinal fluid leakage and spinal headache from accidental dural puncture
  
• sensory problems in the lower extremities
  

here are websites that might be helpful in finding information about specific surgeries:

• encyclopedia of surgery http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/index.html
  
• medline plus (use the search box) http://www.medlineplus.gov/ - also has some videos of certain surgical procedures. lots of information or links to information for patients.
  
• http://www.or-live.com/ - you can watch videos of actual surgeries on all parts of the anatomy. check the archives.