As a nurse working in Labor and Delivery, a hot topic right now is enhanced recovery for cesarean section deliveries. The enhanced recovery program helps women improve their post-op outcomes, so they are more alert and able to bond with their baby (A.Laronche et al., 2017, pg.212). Enhanced recovery allows mothers to be more alert because there are not any narcotics in the enhanced recovery pathway. The reason enhanced recovery is so important in patient care is because we encourage patients to do skin to skin, breastfeed, and bond with their baby as soon after delivery as possible. When the patient was given narcotics, they were drowsy, asleep, or just didn’t feel strong enough to hold their baby, Since the enhance recovery has been introduced, patients are much more AAO x 3, and are able to have bonding time with their baby, which is much more satisfying for the mother and infant. We used to give patients Gabapentin one hour prior to the patient having their cesarean section, but we stopped giving Gabapentin due to patient drowsiness afterwards, which was defeating the purpose of the enhanced recovery program.
Patients are now given a spinal or epidural by anesthesia for their cesarean section. The RN is responsible for giving Zofran 8mg ODT, 30 minutes prior to surgery, to help decrease nausea
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We, as nurses, must keep the communication open with the patient throughout their hospital stay, so the patient remains abreast of what is going on with their care. With the enhanced recovery program, patients don’t have to ask for their pain medication, the medication is on a set schedule. When patients are made aware that the nurse will bring the medication without the patient having to ask for it, decreases patient anxiety. When patients are less anxious, they are able to become more knowledgeable about their care, and teaching is much easier for the nurse