218 - Lady Liberty- The Creation of a Pre-Admission Testing (PAT) Nurse in the ASC

Description: In the abscence of a Pre-Admission Testing (PAT) Nurse role in an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), several practice gaps can arise, impacting efficiency, patient safety, and staff satisfaction. These gaps often stem from a lack of well-defined processes, inadequate training, and communication breakdowns. Such failures include incomplete medical histories, missing medications, allergies, and previous surgical experiences.
An expected outcome to the creation of a PAT Nurse role in an ASC is to positively impact patient outcomes and the overall efficiency of the ASC. Streamlining and improving the efficiency of the pre-admission process can help improve the overall patient flow and reduce delays on the day of surgery. The creation of a PAT nurse can facilitate better communication between surgeons' offices, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare professionals, ensuring coordinated and patient-centered care. By focusing on comprehensive patient assessment, risk stratification, and patient education, these nurses contribute to increased patient safety, reduced cancellations, improved efficiency, and higher levels of satisfaction for both patients and providers. The operating room suite is one of the largest contributors to a hospital's economic success, but it can also be one of the most costly. It is a priority to identify modifiable risks of operating room case cancellations to ensure timely and efficient delivery of care. Cancellation of elective scheduled operations on the day of surgery, case delays, extended recovery room times, and transfers to higher levels of care are some of the unplanned reasons for incurring increased costs. These reasons result in a significant waste of resources, especially when cancellation occurs. Structured preoperative assessment has been reported to improve operating room efficiency. The role of the Pre-Admission Testing (PAT) Nurse is integral in ensuring that patients are appropriate and adequately prepared for outpatient surgery. This specialized nursing role focuses on conducting a thorough chart review consisting of a detailed review of the patient's medical history, current medications, allergies, securing outside records, and any potential risks associated with anesthesia and outpatient surgery. The PAT nurse meticulously reviews the patient's past and current medical conditions, surgeries, and family history. By thoroughly assessing patient risk factors, the PAT nurse helps to optimize surgical outcomes, enhance patient safety, and reduce the likelihood of postoperative complications. Determining the clinical predictors of these operating room inefficiencies are essential. This proactive approach is essential in providing safe and successful surgical care to the patient and contributes significantly to the efficiency and effectiveness of the perioperative process in the outpatient setting. Through collaboration with the surgical offices, the surgical teams, anesthesiologists, nursing and other healthcare providers, they develop an individualized care plan for each patient, thus reducing the reasons for cancellations of scheduled elective outpatient surgery. In conclusion, by focusing on comprehensive patient assessment, risk stratification, and patient education, these nurses contribute to increased patient safety, reduced cancellations, improved efficiency, and higher levels of satisfaction for both patients and providers.