BOB体育

A new project from the University of Florida College of Medicine is aimed at screening patients ahead of scheduled surgeries to improve their recovery time and further limit any side effects by preventing unnecessary blood transfusions.

鲍贵鈥檚 is an evidence-based approach to improving outcomes by managing and preserving a patient鈥檚 own blood, while promoting patient safety and empowerment. BOB体育 Shands Hospital is home to Gainesville鈥檚 only patient blood management program.

specify that it鈥檚 optimal to use a patient鈥檚 own blood supply in surgery, when possible, because of the potential side effects that can result from a blood transfusion, said , the director of patient blood management at the College of Medicine and a professor in the division of multispecialty anesthesiology. Common side effects include nausea, fever and chills, but some patients can experience severe complications and even death.

Haas and the patient blood management team recently received a $24,000 grant from the UF W. Martin Smith Interdisciplinary Patient Safety Awards Program to begin a project in which patients are screened for hemoglobin levels before scheduled surgeries. Research shows that anemia, a deficiency of red blood cells or of hemoglobin in the blood that affects 2.4 billion people globally, is a common factor that can lead to a patient needing a blood transfusion.

Patients will be screened for anemia before going into a surgery at BOB体育 Shands Hospital, and depending on the time that is left before surgery and the underlying reasons for anemia, the health team will work with the patient to increase their hemoglobin levels and reduce the need for a blood transfusion.

鈥淲e think we can do something very special here at BOB体育 by screening all our patients for anemia, and we hopefully can make sure that a substantial number of these patients will be treated for that before they go into surgery,鈥� Haas said. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e starting with better hemoglobin levels, they are less likely to get transfused, which would improve patient safety because they are less likely to develop any side effects.鈥�

Patients can improve their hemoglobin levels by taking an iron supplement or increasing their consumption of iron-rich foods such as dark, leafy vegetables, red meat, tofu, dried fruit and iron-fortified wheat products. By eliminating the need for blood transfusions, Haas said, patients are likely to recover from surgery and return home from the hospital more quickly. It also frees up the hospital鈥檚 blood supply for emergency cases or other situations where anemia is not the primary reason for transfusion.

Under Haas鈥� direction, 鲍贵鈥檚 patient blood management program has undergone significant growth in the past several months. The team recently hired a patient blood management quality officer, Imke Casey, D.N.P., CRNA, RN-BC, RHIT, to manage everyday needs for the program. She said the interdisciplinary work across teams at the College of Medicine and the hospital will help to make processes run more smoothly for all health care teams to minimize the need for transfusions.

鈥淚t is a very intricate and complex system that we really have to address,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e know how to provide excellent anesthesia surgical care. But we can notch it up a bit because the recent evidence shows us we should take hemoglobin levels into consideration. Having a clinical background working with many different teams in quality improvement both as a nurse anesthetist and in academia, I think the best improvements come when everyone isn鈥檛 siloed but rather working together to progress, as we are with this program.鈥�

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