NAME:
Student number:
Course of study: ODP
Sheffield Hallam University, Faculty of Health and Well-being
Module Title: Surgical Practice

Submission date: 11th April 2014
Number of words: 2617

Surgical Practice
The aim of this assignment is to discuss advocacy, confidentiality and evidence based practice and show where in the care of a patient undergoing a surgical procedure that these are important. In order to do this the following case study will be used.
My case study for this assignment was a lady called Emma (pseudonym used to protect confidentiality). Emma is a 44-year-old lady who attended her General
Practitioner GP along with her husband to enquire about sterilization. Emma has 2 young children aged eight and four with her husband and an older child of 14 from her first marriage. Both Emma and her husband agreed that they were certain they didn’t want any more children and that sterilization was their chosen birth controlled method. The GP suggested to Emma that he could she could choose an appropriate hospital and surgeon specifically for her operation and a date and time to suit through the Choose and book system (NHS.UK 2014). A hospital, surgeon and date and time of the first appointment was booked on line via choose and book system with the assistance of the GP. Choose and book does have a greater chance of protecting patient confidentiality. There is a reduced risk that the correspondence gets lost in the post as most of the communication is done via computers (NHS.UK 2014).
Emma attended her hospital appointment with her surgeon at her chosen hospital some 4 weeks later. The surgeon read through the communication sent from the
GP and agreed with Emma that the sterilization was her best option. The surgeon

recommended the Laparoscopic sterilization been the best option in Emma’s case.
Evidence based practice has shown laparoscopic surgery carries less risk to the patient than open surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is less invasive for the patient, enhances postoperative recovery and reduces morbidity (A.SURG 2008).
Emma attained the pre-operative assessment clinic for her appointment prior to her surgery. Emma met the nurse who would take her through the pre-operative assessment process. The nurse had been sent all of Emma’s information from the surgeon’s secretary and had requested Emma’s notes prior to her visit. Emma’s notes delivered on the day of the assessment and were kept in the nurses station notes cupboard and only accessed by the nurse when needed. To ensure confidentiality, patient notes should be kept secure and seen on a need to know basis (NHS.UK 2014). Emma was called through by the nurse to a private consulting room. This was done to protect Emma’s dignity and ensure confidentiality was maintained. The aim of the assessment is to determine if Emma was fit for surgery. The most common delay in any operative procedure is that of inadequate control of any pre existing conditions (MILLER 2002). The role of the pre-operative assessment nurse is to act as the patients advocate. Advocacy involves the nurse ensuring the patients safety through out the patient’s pre, post and perioperative care. This. Could range from maintaining standards and procedures, infection control and risk management. Each member of staff who is acting as the patients advocate has a responsibility to uphold and defend the patient and put the patient’s interest and safety first. (SHWARTZ 2002) questions if a patient advocate is really needed. He goes on to state that nurses may have a

conflict of interest He states that a patient advocate may have personal issues or beliefs, which may cloud his or her judgment when representing a patient. I would argue the fact and say that all professionals have a duty of care set out in the HCPC code of conduct (HCPC 2008) which highlights that all professionals must act in the best interest of the patient. This was proven so by the way the assessment nurse conducted her self during Emma’s