Implementing a Regional Anesthesia Block Nurse Team in the Perianesthesia Care Unit Increases Patient Safety and Perioperative Efficiency

A lack of standardized nursing procedures regarding the management of patients receiving preoperative regional anesthesia in the perianesthesia setting raises a number of issues for perianesthesia nurses. In January 2010, Duke University Hospital's perianesthesia care unit implemented a regional anesthesia “block nurse” team in the preoperative holding area as a patient safety initiative. In January 2011, a retrospective data review was conducted. Results indicated that the implementation of the block nurse team not only increased patient safety but also increased perioperative efficiency and productivity, and decreased delays to operating room start times. This article describes the role of the regional anesthesia block nurse, the development of a block nurse team, and the early benefits of implementing a dedicated regional anesthesia block nurse team in the perianesthesia setting.