As we continue to adjust to a new way of conducting business and with your safety in mind, the Patient Safety Authority would like to take the opportunity to continue our series of roundtable discussions to facilitate engagement between PA healthcare facilities.

Instead of regional in-person events, the Engagement Roundtable series will be conducted virtually, with participation open statewide via Microsoft Teams. The Patient Safety Authority believes that in the age of social distancing, finding ways to stay connected with other patient safety professionals is more important than ever. The primary goal of these events is to facilitate the sharing and discussion of information in a collaborative environment for a range of patient safety topics.

This session is intended to give hospitals and ambulatory surgery facilities an opportunity to discuss current topics of interest and issues of concern submitted by facilities. This session will lead off with a discussion of how facilities prepare for potential disasters in the OR and lessons learned from actual events, followed by a general discussion.

Join Dr. Tanya Uritsky, clinical pharmacy specialist in pain stewardship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she will identify risk factors for opioid-induced respiratory depression in hospitalized surgical patients, define opioid tolerance, recognize other CNS depressants that can potentiate opioid-induced sedation and respiratory depression, and recommend an appropriate opioid starting dose for an opioid naïve perioperative patient.

Opioid stewardship is the appropriate use of opioids and is an important part of patient safety. The highest risk for the development of opioid-induced respiratory depression is during the first 24 hours post-operatively. Knowing the best practices for pain management in the perioperative period, including how to identify a patient at increased risk for opioid-related adverse events, can help to improve patient safety. This session will provide insights into patient-related risk factors and considerations for pain management in the perioperative period. 

1.0 continuing education hours will be awarded for completion of this webinar. Continuing education credits apply to Pennsylvania registered nurses only.