Understanding Post-Surgical Care Needs
If someone in your family has to have a surgery of any kind, it is important for you to understand what they are in for during the recovery phase after the surgery occurs. You should visit their doctor with them to hear about those needs so you can prepare as best you can for the post-surgical care process. There are many different steps and, once your loved one is capable, some of them can be done at home with the right skilled nursing care.
The Initial Recovery
After the surgery is complete, your loved one will move to a recovery room. If they are having an inpatient surgery, they may stay in recovery overnight or even for a few days. This unit is dedicated to their needs and helps to minimize complications that could arise. If they are having outpatient surgery, they will be in recovery likely only a matter of hours.
Assessing Needs
Once your loved one recovers from the anesthesia, the doctor will assess their needs and take their vital signs. This is something that will continue at home if you have the recovery take place there. The skilled nursing caregivers will take vital signs on a regular basis. They need to know what ‘normal’ looks like for your loved one so they can notice the changes if anything is different.
Pain Management
Most people don’t feel pain right after surgery because the anesthetic lingers. However, eventually, that will wear out and the patient will need pain management care. Pain relief should be consistent and well managed so your loved one never has too much or too little medication. This is best something overseen by someone who knows what they are doing. In the home, skilled nursing care can take charge of the pain management, listening for and watching for cues from your loved one.
Rehabilitation
There are going to be rehab type things that go on after any surgery, whether the patient needs physical therapy or not. It takes time to get up and back on your feet, for example, and time to have the energy to do certain things. Skilled nursing care knows how to push a person to get back to their routines, but they also know not to go too far or take things too fast.
Post-Surgical Care Can Be Intimidating
You want to take care of your loved one in the best possible manner after they’ve had a surgery. But taking care of someone after surgery is different than taking care of someone with the stomach flu. You need to care for their medication, their wounds, their physical pain, and much more. That could be way more than you can safely handle, but that’s okay. As soon as you admit that you are intimidated, you can start searching for alternative options. Contact Agility Health to talk about skilled nursing care so you can get the post-surgical attention for your loved one in their home that they’re going to need.
