Obese patient airway management
Obese patient airway management
For this assignment, you should select a topic which is relevant to both anaesthetic and recovery practice and which is relevant to one of the module learning outcomes. It also needs to be something that you are interested in and which you can discuss in good depth in 3000 words. Suitable topics include airway management, and it should cover both anaesthetic and recovery practice when writing your assignment. Though the proportion of anaesthetic and pacu (Post Anaesthetic Care Unit) may vary dependent on topic.
When writing your assignment, you need to address the following points:
● Explain why you have selected your chosen topic and which module learning outcome it relates to.
● Introduce and explain your topic. For example, what is airway management?
● Why is the topic important? For example, why is it important to maintain a patient’s airway during anaesthesia and in PACU?
What problem can occur during airway management of obese patients undergoing surgery?
● Explain why a patient may undergo changes relating to the issue you have chosen. For example, fluid balance may be affected by the administration of fluids and by bleeding. Giving an anaesthetic may affect oxygenation, Surgery causes pain. So, what can happen to an obese patient airway. Think about what is happening physiologically.
● How do you assess patients in relation to your chosen issue? For example, how can the practitioner assess an obese patient airway?
● What methods of patient management are deployed in relation to managing to an obese patient airway? For example, what types of airways management are available? How do these work? When are, they used? What criteria determine their selection? What contraindications exist regarding their use? Remember to address underlying physiological issues.
● How does the issue you have focused on impact upon patients? For example, increased length of stay in PACU, or in hospital.
Are there any legal issues which need to be considered? For example, duty of care or relevant qualifications/registration needed to administer medication by some routes?
● What is the practitioner’s role in relation to the chosen issue? E.g. What is the ODP (Operating Department Practitioner) or theatre nurse role in airway management
Remember:
● You are focussing on a topic, not a patient. This is not a case study but an in-depth assignment on a topic of your choice
You may wish to consider the following ideas around Pain e.g
v Pain assessment: comparing a variety of assessment tools (either for adults or for children)
v Pain management: comparing epidural analgesia vs. PCA for a particular type of surgery.
v Pain management: comparing different regional blocks for a particular surgery or group of patients
v Analgesic requirements during surgery for chronic pain patients etc.
● Remember to use a good selection of peer reviewed reference sources, national guidelines and hospital policies to support your comments., discussion and analysis need to be referenced appropriately.
The use of software to assist in building your reference list is recommended, there are guidance and videos in the School Referencing Handbook, I personally am finding RefWorks worthwhile, though a word of caution would be to get your list ready with Refworks but still check the references comply with APA 6 th edition and the College Referencing Handbook.
