Pediatric ophthalmology and anesthesia pearls in the operating room

Abstract

Providing nursing care to pediatric patients is both challenging and rewarding. The pediatric ophthalmic caregiver must remain acutely aware of physiologic changes, which may be subtle. Though most pediatric procedures are performed by an anesthesiologist using general anesthesia, the ophthalmic nurse needs to remain vigilant. Problems that arise must be attended to within mere seconds. This paper discusses distraction techniques and gives an overview of the care provided to children under general anesthesia at a major pediatric specialty hospital. This paper relates one ophthalmic nurse's experiences in a hospital-based outpatient surgery center that employs 14 board-certified faculty pediatric anesthesiologists as well as rotational anesthesia residents in their first, second, third, and fellowship years. The outpatient center has five operating rooms, and the inpatient surgery area has 14 operating rooms. Nearly 800 pediatric ophthalmology procedures are done in the outpatient area each year; approximately 20 ophthalmology procedures are done at the inpatient surgery area annually.