Newswise — Simulation sessions can help maintain clinician proficiency and prepare staff members to be part of the multidisciplinary team during high-risk procedures that happen suddenly and infrequently. One such situation is an emergency resternotomy in the intensive care unit (ICU) for patients recovering from cardiac surgery who experience cardiac arrest. The surgery involves reopening the patient’s chest after defibrillation did not resuscitate them.
It is performed in the ICU, without transferring the patient to an operating room, and can be challenging for all clinicians involved as they race to save the patient. The cardiovascular ICU at University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, developed a three-part program to improve clinicians’ ability to recognize clinical signs that would prompt an urgent sternotomy for a postoperative cardiac surgery patient and to clarify individual roles during the emergency procedure. “ Simulation Training for Emergency Sternotomy in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit ” details the program and its impact based on results of preintervention and postintervention surveys.
The study is published in Critical Care Nurse ( CCN ). Co-author Athanasios Tsiouris is an assistant professor of cardiac surgery at the medical center. “These events are fortunately rare, but when they do occur, staff members need to be familiar with the surgical instruments and techniques needed,” Tsiouris said.
“Ongoing education and simulation .
