Chapter 20: Postoperative Nursing Care

The content emphasizes the critical role nurses play in managing patients recovering from anesthesia and surgical procedures within the postanesthesia care unit, where systematic assessment and intervention protocols guide patient progression through distinct recovery phases. Core nursing responsibilities center on maintaining respiratory function through airway management and oxygenation support, ensuring cardiovascular stability via hemodynamic monitoring and circulation assessment, and implementing pain control strategies using multimodal analgesic approaches including patient-controlled analgesia and regional nerve blocks. The chapter details common postoperative complications requiring vigilant nursing surveillance, including respiratory issues such as atelectasis and pulmonary embolism, cardiovascular complications like hypotension and venous thromboembolism, neurological concerns including emergence delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems such as postoperative nausea and vomiting and paralytic ileus. Temperature regulation emerges as a crucial nursing consideration, addressing both hypothermia from anesthetic effects and hyperthermia from infectious processes or malignant hyperthermia syndrome. Wound healing and surgical site infection prevention require meticulous assessment techniques and sterile care protocols, while urinary function monitoring focuses on output measurement and retention prevention. The chapter integrates evidence-based nursing interventions including early mobilization strategies, incentive spirometry techniques, and comprehensive discharge planning that begins preoperatively and encompasses patient education on medication management, activity restrictions, and recognition of postoperative complications requiring immediate medical attention.