Changing nursing practice to facilitate enhanced recovery

When does your nursing team remove drains, catheters, and cannula? How soon are your patients getting dressed after surgery? Could it be earlier?

The role of early mobilisation is essential to enhanced recovery pathways, but how often do we limit the ability of patients to start walking by keeping in drips, drains and catheters “just in case” they are needed again?

In the exemplar units, patients get washed and dressed for breakfast the first day after a hip replacement. Any catheters, drains and cannula will be removed, and the patient begins to walk with the physiotherapist that morning.

What happens in your unit? Over the next week, how many patients are washed, dressed and ready for mobilisaiton the morning after their operation?

Let us know your experiences.