Application of the principles of health and safety to the operating theatre environment - Essay Example

The operating department practitioner (ODP) should be alert to any fears or apprehensions expressed by the patient and transmit such information to the surgeon (Lyons, 1997). The patient and his family should be encouraged to communicate freely with the physician. The preparation and care of the patient before surgery has one major goal to promote the best possible physical and psychological state of the patient prior to surgical therapy. To achieve this goal, the patient’s individual needs must be ascertained and his strengths and limitations evaluated.

A plan of care can then be developed to assist the patient in adjusting physically and emotion­ally to the surgical experience. Preparation for surgery should begin as soon as the patient is told that an operation is necessary. The anticipation of any surgical procedure will result in an emotional reaction ­of some kind, and much can be done to allevi­ate fears prior to admission as well as during hospitalization. The patient’s reaction will depend on many factors, including his person­ality structure and his pattern of reaction to stressful events in the past.

A surgical operation is a stressful situation in which the patient may believe that he is in danger of acute pain, serious damage to the body, disability, and death. In addition there is a fear of the unknown. This can be compli­cated by fear of anesthesia or fear of separa­tion from activities, family, and friends. The average patient also worries about financial problems, family responsibilities, and em­ployment status. Anxiety will usually increase as the time for surgery draws near. The ODP can assist the patient, his family, and surgical personnel by listening to the patient and helping him to verbalize his fears.

Often the patient only wants the opportunity to acknowledge his fears to a caring, under­standing, and accepting person (Saylor, 1975). The evening before surgery the