Being comfortable is not just about the anaesthetic…

So we keep mentioning that anaesthesia is not just about sleep. We also mentioned that a big part of the job of the anaesthesia team is keeping patients comfortable and safe during procedures.

Well being comfortable is a goal that extends after any surgery of course. We want our patients to recover as quickly as possible after whatever operation they have had. Which is why the work of the crew in the Acute Pain Service, a group of amazing nurses working alongside anaesthetists and others in the pain service, is vital every single day at the hospital.

Maybe we could try to gain the briefest insight from one of the team …

Of course that couple of minutes cannot possibly capture all that this very impressive team do each and every day.

Patients need to be as comfortable as possible for more than just the very obvious reasons. More and more we focus on making sure that being comfortable isn’t just about, well, being comfortable. The focus is on allowing patients to * do * as much as possible.

Good analgesia means being able to take deep breaths, or cough, or get up and going as just a few examples. Being able to * do* things both improves recovery and prevents complications. So it really matters.

When you consider the thousands and thousands of procedures happening each year, and that some of those patients will be visited by the pain service team multiple times, that is a lot of work.

And of course it is about even more than seeing the patients. The work involves educating staff all over the hospital. We want to empower everyone who looks after children to be an active part of keeping them comfortable. Plus the team are part of the research and constant system improvement that helps us do more for our patients every day.

Which brings us back to anaesthesia being more than just sleep.

Which is why it takes big teams to make it happen.