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Monitoring Patient Safety In The Recovery Room, Gail Davis

Dissertations

Respiratory depression is a serious complication after surgery. Early detection is a major patient safety concern for recovery room personnel as patients recover from anesthesia and experience pain. The opioids used for pain management may contribute to over-sedation effects and respiratory depression. Vital signs and pulse oximetry are standard postoperative monitoring procedures. End-tidal capnography and arterial blood gases may augment the standard-of-care procedures but may not be effective at detecting early respiratory depression. The purpose of this study was to generate baseline data trending patient safety variables and outcomes for postoperative patients using standard monitoring with standard-of-care plus transcutaneous capnography …