Final answer:
In healthcare settings, abnormal patient occurrences or end-of-shift procedures involve reviews and confirmations by the medical team to ensure patient safety and care continuity, including checks on procedural details and being alert to certain warning signs.
Step-by-step explanation:
When anything abnormal about your patient occurs or at the end of your shift in a healthcare setting, certain protocols are followed to ensure continuity of care and patient safety. These include a review by the surgeon, nurse, and anesthesia professional of the key concerns for the recovery and care of the patient. It is crucial in such high-stress environments where factors like work overload, heavy physical work, and patient concerns are common. During a 'time out' before the skin incision, the team, including nurses and anesthesia professionals, reviews aloud various critical items such as confirming procedural details, needle and sponge counts, specimen labeling, equipment issues, and more. A sign-in process occurs before the induction of anesthesia where essentials like antibiotic prophylaxis and imaging results are confirmed. Throughout the shift, healthcare providers are vigilant for signs such as unusual bleeding or discharge, lumps, changes in moles, persistent coughing, or hoarseness, and at the end of the shift, they must ensure all patient information is accurately handed over to the next team.These practices are designed to address problems such as dealing with patient concerns, managing interpersonal problems with medical staff, and ensuring that all procedures are correctly followed to provide the best possible care for patients.