epidurals and spinal blocks

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Improve Epidural Safety with the EPD
CategoriesPatient Handling

Equal Safety for Patients and Nurses During Epidurals

by sphmedicaladmin

The epidural positioning device is used in Labor and Delivery Unit to improve the positioning of patients during epidurals and in the surgical area for spinal blocks. Its main function is to provide support for the patient during the procedure and to minimize risk of injury to the caregiver. Epidural pain relief provides comfort for patients by reducing back pain by positioning them properly. It also helps in increasing the speed and accuracy of epidural injections. The device can be used in sitting, reclining, standing, or lying down.

Risks of Epidurals and Spinal Block Procedure to Patients

The surgery department is using the EPD to position patients for Spinal Blocks. Surgeons are now opting to use Spinal Blocks for their patients and many common surgical procedures due to the fast recovery time. Perioperative staff are now busier than every administering them. In addition to the manual patient handling required by surgical staff to position patients without them moving suddenly, Spinal Block procedures involve many risks to patients. These risks are often caused by wrong positioning during the procedure. Patients can be positioned in any way. However, if they are not placed correctly, there is a risk of injuring some parts of the body, like nerve endings and blood vessels that transport oxygen to different parts of the body.

The risks include:

a) Nerve damage

Injury to nerve endings is the most common problem during epidural injections procedures. The damage can cause numbness and pain in patients’ legs, arms, or spine.

b) Blood vessel damage

Direct injury to blood vessels that provide oxygen to different body parts occurs by wrong positioning during the procedure. The damage can cause problems with blood flow and lead to severe medical conditions.

c) Back pain and discomfort

Inaccuracy of injections can cause back ligaments, tendons, or muscle tissues. This may lead to severe pain in these parts. There is a risk of injuries if patients lie down while they get epidurals instead of sitting upright position where weight distribution favors the accuracy of epidural needle placement.

d) Procedure time increase

Incorrect patient positioning during the procedure causes slow speed and accuracy in injecting medicine into the body or blocking the spinal cord. It increases the actual procedures time, which hospitals have to pay more money for longer treatments, which is mostly not affordable.

Benefits of Proper Positioning During Epidurals

The use of epidural positioning device in the surgery department helps position patients precisely so that the risks associated with incorrect positioning and stability are minimized.

The benefits of using this device are:

a)Increased accuracy of injections

EPD helps properly place an epidural needle into the spinal cord, which results in more accurate injections. This means a faster procedure with less pain and discomfort for patients.

b) Reduced back pain

The device helps in reducing back pain and discomfort by comfortably positioning patients. It makes the procedure less painful for them, and they can relax during the treatment.

c) Reduced risk of nerve and blood vessel damage

When patients are positioned correctly with the epidural chair, there is a reduced risk of injuring nerve endings or blood vessels. This decreases the chances of injury that might cause numbness, pain, or lesions.

d) Reduced procedure time

The device helps reduce the duration of epidural injection procedures by increasing the accuracy of injections. It reduces costs for patients as the hospital will not charge them more money for more extended treatment. Also, it is beneficial from hospitals’ point because they don’t have to pay more money for more lengthy procedures.

e) Improved patient comfort and satisfaction

The use of epidural positioning device during epidurals provides the maximum possible comfort level for patients during the procedure. The epidural pain relief device improves patients’ overall experience with this treatment to be satisfied with it. Also, increased injections accuracy helps them reduce back pain and discomfort, which makes them feel better during the treatment.

Risks to Nurses

Nurses are also at risk during both the epidural and the spinal block procedures if the patient is not positioned correctly and supported well to avoid movement.
Some of the risks to nurse are:

  • Back pain and discomfort
  • Neck and shoulder pain
  • Strains and Sprains
  • Severe musculoskeletal injuries that affect their ability to work in the future
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome. This is a condition where the nerves around the wrist get compressed and results in pain, numbness, and tingling sensation in the fingers.

Nurses Leaders are recommending that their nurses should use the EPD to minimize these risks and provide better patient care. The device helps in the safe and accurate positioning of patients, which reduces the chances of any injury or discomfort. It makes their job easier, and they can provide better care to patients with less risk.

The epidural chair helps in improving safety and comfort for patients getting an epidural injection in the surgery department. It helps reduce back pain and discomfort by positioning patients correctly, improving procedure time by increasing the accuracy of injections, and overall patient satisfaction.

The EPD should be appropriately used to avoid risks related to incorrect patient positioning. Nurses in the labor and delivery unit can also use this device to position themselves correctly while working so that they are less likely to get injured during the procedure.

The EPD improves nursing and patient safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

Staff Safety During Epidurals and Spinal Blocks

by sphmedicaladmin

No Room for Error When It Comes To Staff Safety

It’s hard to imagine health care without anesthesia or analgesia. Even after 175 years, they’re a medical marvel that no one takes for granted. Technology and innovation may evolve at lightning speed, but there are still no shortcuts during epidurals and spinal blocks. Whenever anesthetists place a needle in a patient, they summon all their knowledge, training, skill, experience and powers of concentration. Where the spinal cord and nerve roots are concerned, there’s no room for error. Simply put, if epidural placement is inaccurate, pain is the least of anyone’s worries.

Positioning the Patient: What’s the Problem?

There’s more to getting pain medicine to the right place than most people realize. Before the needle can be positioned, the patient must be positioned. That’s almost always easier said than done, especially when the patient is elderly or feeble, has difficulty following instructions, or outweighs the assisting nurse. That last scenario is quite common and highly problematic.

In 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses were injured on the job at a significantly higher rate than full-time workers in other occupations. Fifty-one percent of injuries involved muscle strains, sprains or tears, and more than a fourth of those were back-related. The average recovery time away from work was seven days.

Work-related MSDs, or musculoskeletal disorders, are injuries caused by lifting or overexertion. In 2016, MSDs accounted for a whopping 44 percent of RNs’ occupational injuries.

Needless to say, if nurses go down, the whole system goes down. Maybe you’ve never given or received epidurals and spinal blocks. If not, you’re probably thinking, “How hard can it be to tell a patient how to sit?”

Well, it’s a little like telling a ballerina to hold a picture-perfect arabesque while the photographer tries different angles.

That’s an extreme example, but the point is this: Patients are asked to assume an unnatural position and sustain it throughout a tricky procedure that can’t be rushed. Incredibly, some rather primitive methods are still employed.

The Perils of Manual Positioning

To achieve the ideal position, it’s not uncommon for staff members to prop up patients on rickety bedside tables and unwieldy pillows. Nurses and anesthesiologists who lack state-of-the-art equipment must be resourceful.

With any luck, the bedside table won’t collapse or tip. Hopefully, the pillows won’t slip to the floor with the patient close behind. Women receiving epidurals before hard labor, even those who avoid injury, are in no mood for such nonsense. The assisting staff member could easily become the next patient.

Given all the things that could go wrong with manual positioning, it’s easy to see why EPD use is becoming more widespread.

The Epidural Positioning Device

For epidurals and spinal blocks it is necessary, the EPD (epidural positioning device) is a godsend. The design takes several things into account:

  • Ease and accuracy of epidural placement.
  • Patient stability and comfort.
  • Weight support up to 600 pounds.
  • Portability.
  • Staff safety.

The epidural positioner is not just a luxury item any more than a seat belt is a nice accessory for a car. EPDs make it easier for anesthesiologists to do their job. EPDs keep nurses healthy and on top of their game. EPDs help patients receive first-rate care with optimal outcomes. Given all those benefits and more, EPDs are increasingly considered necessary.

The Epidural Positioner in Thoracentesis

EDPs are widely used in labor and delivery, surgery and orthopedics. They are even useful in radiology departments.

Thoracentesis, also known as pleural tap, is a procedure to remove excess fluid in the lungs. A little fluid is appropriate for lubrication; it keeps the membranes involved in breathing from rubbing together. However, too much fluid interferes with lung capacity. Labored breathing and pain result. Excess fluid can also interfere with imaging or diagnosing disease.

In any case, thoracentesis also requires careful patient positioning and needle placement. During Thoracentesis patients must be supported in a comfortable position over a prolonged period while drainage occurs. Radiologists and their imaging teams are thankful for the EPDs that make their jobs easier and prevent injuries.

The uses and benefits of the epidural positioner become more apparent all the time. This is one innovation that will be around for a while.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/occupational-injuries-and-illnesses-among-registered-nurses.htm

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