The patient had shoulder surgery 2 hours ago, and the Hemovac drain is filling at a continuous rate. Which should the nurse do first?
a. Notify the surgeon.
b. Monitor the Hemovac drainage.
c. Irrigate the Hemovac with sterile saline.
d. Attach a larger Hemovac drain.
A
The nurse calls the surgeon because the amount of drainage varies with a procedure and the nurse needs to know a specific amount for this patient and surgery so the patient can be monitored appropriately. The surgeon may need to take the patient back to surgery if a problem exists. The nurse should continue to monitor the drainage. Because the volume of drainage is large, the more important action is to call the surgeon. Surgical drains are not designed for irrigation. The Hemovac is an integrated unit that includes the drainage container and attached drain that is placed in the surgical site at the conclusion of a procedure; to change a Hemovac, the provider replaces the tubing and container. This is not a nursing function.
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