title: When your patient is from the obstetric department: postpartum hemorrhage and massive transfusion.
abstract: When caring for patients receiving massive transfusion, the nurse will be required to perform ongoing assessments and apply critical thinking to provide optimum care and avoid further complications. The perianesthesia nurse must be aware of the hemodynamic and coagulation changes of pregnancy when caring for an obstetric patient in the PACU to optimize patient outcomes. Understanding the causes of obstetric hemorrhage, which may result in the need for massive transfusion, will enable the nurse to anticipate and prevent potentially deadly complications.
authors.affiliation: Labor and Delivery, Christiana Care Health System, 4755 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, DE 19718, USA. mchichester@christianacare.org
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chichester
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D009017:Morbidity; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000379:methods; D006473:Postpartum Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D065227:Transfusion Reaction