Implementing Methods to Improve Perioperative Hemostasis in the Surgical and Trauma Settings

Achieving perioperative hemostasis is vital to surgical success. Inadequate control of bleeding is associated with serious adverse outcomes, including extended duration of surgery, unanticipated blood transfusions, shock, infection, impaired wound healing, longer hospital stays, and mortality. Appropriate clinical management of bleeding in the surgical and trauma settings requires careful collaborative planning and coordination by the entire perioperative team. Perioperative nurses, because of their strategic role in patient care, must be familiar with risk factors for excessive bleeding and the fundamental roles of hemostatic agents, environmental temperature, and blood transfusion in controlling bleeding in the surgical patient. Knowledge of the characteristics, safety, efficacy, and costs of available topical hemostatic agents promotes their appropriate selection in the OR. By incorporating evidence-based approaches into practice, perioperative nurses can support effective intraoperative hemostasis, thereby improving patient outcomes.