Nurse Anesthetists’ Perceptions of Perioperative Temperature Monitoring and Management and the Impact of an Educational Intervention: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

Inadvertent hypothermia is a preventable, yet prevalent, adverse event among surgical patients during the perioperative period that is associated with negative patient outcomes and increased healthcare costs. This quality improvement project aimed to produce a better understanding of this problem in order to inform future quality interventions designed to reduce the incidence of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. Perceptions of nurse anesthetists regarding perioperative temperature monitoring and management before and after receipt of an educational resource and presentation were assessed using Qualtrics pre- and post-surveys. Findings suggest that following the intervention there was an increase in awareness of the national standard on temperature monitoring for nurse anesthetists, an improvement in efficiency in accessing evidence-based guidelines and recommendations regarding temperature monitoring and management to support and help guide the CRNAs’ clinical practice, an increase in the reported confidence level in the CRNAs’ perceived knowledge about perioperative temperature monitoring and management, and an increased reported intention to utilize intraoperative temperature monitoring. Findings suggest that providing an educational presentation and an accompanying evidence-based resource on the physiology of and recommended practices for preventing inadvertent perioperative hypothermia could be a cost-effective means to facilitate a decrease in its incidence. Findings also suggest potential target areas for future interventions aimed at better understanding the phenomenon of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia and ways it may be prevented.