新媒网 · 跨境数据社区

Anaesthetic tip for the week: PATIENT FOLLOW-UP It works wonders in the businesses community too apparently: A client walks into your shop, makes a purchase, off they go; a good deal. But what if you are missing a fine detail that could very well determine whether your client will return or not, or, say, recommend your services to another? And so right before you leave, package in hand, the shop attendant politely asks you for your email address. Just as you get home and recline in your seat your phone pings! "How was your shopping experience ? Are there areas you feel we can do better ?" The alternative, of course, is to simply not care; just stubbornly believe that you've done your part; your approach is "standard" and needs no improvement at all. Friends, that would be an excellent recipe for stagnation. Such an approach would never set you apart from the average. A seed of dissatisfaction would go unnoticed in a vicious, self perpetuating cycle. The same principle applies to anaesthetics (and others in the health care system honestly). It doesn't end with the patient being wheeled out of the recovery room, taken back to the ward, out of your hands and subsequently lost to follow up. Strive to learn: # How satisfied is the patient with your care? # Areas of improvement # Were you comfortable (favourable pain scores) and your pain managed well? # Assess the burden of common problems that occur post operatively such as Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) # Is there anything you wish we'd told you earlier ? Friends, it doesn't have to take this shape or form but you get the message; talk to your patients. How might you go about this? You could visit the patient postoperatively or send someone trusted to obtain these key pieces of information for you. Yet another approach involves talking to colleagues-members of the multidisciplinary team constantly in contact with them long after they've left your hands (works well if you have an extremely thin anaesthetic workforce that leaves you litttle to no time to visit your patients after surgery). Quite oftenly, valuable feedback comes from colleagues working further down the chain of patient care, emphasizing the constant need to talk to one another. This approach, once turned into habit, will never fail to show you which screws in your undoubtedly rich arsenal of skills, need tightening. Rest assured, the next patient will be a lot happier. #anaesthesia_in_low_income_settings #Patient_Safety #your_favourite_anaesthesiologist