Final answer:
A nurse should perform a time out to verify the procedure and patient details, prepare sterile equipment, and ensure accurate and sterile wound irrigation. The team collectively confirms key details aloud before proceeding. This protocol enhances patient safety and procedure effectiveness.
Step-by-step explanation:
When caring for a patient who has a prescription for wound irrigation, a nurse should follow a specific protocol to ensure the procedure is carried out safely and effectively. Before starting, the team should perform a time out to confirm the correct procedure is being conducted on the right patient. During a time out, the entire team including nurses, surgeons, anesthesia professionals, and any others involved, will review critical aspects out loud.
These include confirming the patient's name, the procedure to be performed, ensuring that needle, sponge, and instrument counts are complete, correctly labeling specimens, and addressing any equipment issues. In the context of wound care, the nurse may also be involved in preparing solutions and equipment to maintain a sterile environment and ensure accurate procedure, as well as in directly providing treatments like reviewing patient history or monitoring the dialysis process if applicable.
Moreover, nurses should be attentive to the important role of communicating and following checklists to prevent infection when inserting central intravenous lines, as inspired by Dr. Pronovost's ICU study that implemented a checklist to reduce infection rates.