I decided to choose this topic because, in the hospital that I came from, VTE is not given much importance especially in patients who just came from surgery or patients who has not mobilized for a long period of time. This may be due to the fact that VTE prophylaxis treatments there …show more content…
According to NICE (2010) “A UK survey suggested that 71% of patients assessed to be at medium or high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis did not receive any form of mechanical or pharmacological VTE prophylaxis”. The guideline emphasized the need for mechanical or chemical prophylaxis especially for post-surgical patients because these are the patients who have significant reduced mobility and are much more at risk. But of course, the guidelines also emphasized the importance of assessing which patients may need either chemical or mechanical prophylaxis. “All adult patients admitted to (Name Withheld) will be individually assessed on admission for their risk for VTE and bleeding using the (Name Withheld) VTE risk assessment tool.” (NHS Trust Policy, Name Withheld, 2014) So, during my exposure to the ward, I have seen my mentor and other staff nurses do the Assessment forms for VTE and how it is part of the hospital policy to always measure the legs of the patient and provide TED stockings upon admission unless it is contraindicated, and tried doing these forms and do the interview with the supervision of my mentor, so that I can experience how to accurately gain information about the VTE risks of …show more content…
I noticed that the patients understand the importance of early mobilization and sometimes, because they are so eager to try and walk, I have to tell them that they still need to wait for the Physiotherapist to assess them before mobilizing.
Every day was a learning experience for me. At first, I always get supervised by my mentor especially during admissions and when new patients come from the theatres, but now, my mentor told me that I have been improving a lot and gaining more confidence on how I handle my patients. Learning about all of these through research, training and meetings with my mentor, I was able to learn about how serious VTE is and its consequences. The things that I have learned about VTE is very useful and I realized that I can also apply the things that I have learned in my everyday