Norma caples
CNS ( Clinical nurse Specialist ) Heart Failure, University Hospital Waterford, Dunmore Road, Waterford, Ireland.
Title: The Effect of an Early Discharge Protocol Program After CABG
Biography
Biography: Norma caples
Abstract
The wrong diagnosis can have fatal results for the cardiac patient. Up to five per cent of patients with acute myocardial infarction are missed. Cardiac biomarkers are critical in the rapid diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. Cardiac biomarkers measures myocardial cell death. Troponin T (TnT) is a cardiac biomarker that is used to define myocardial infarct and also those at risk. A literature review revealed that there was not an algorithm for when TnT samples should be taken for in-patients complaining of chest pain. It was observed that over sixty six per cent were taken before the recommended six hours. This may lead to the potential of patients receiving a missed or wrong diagnosis. This incorporated a wasting of €13968 of the medical budget. The innovation design consists of the introduction of an algorithm for when serum TnT samples should be taken. The algorithm was formulated by Norma Caples. It would aid the person, in a step by step process, in making a decision if a TnT sample was needed and if so when it should be taken. A literature review did not show of any algorithm in existence for the taking of TnT on inpatients. A re-audit on the time of the patients’ chest and the time of when the serum TnT was taken proved that the algorithm was successful in attaining its goals. It revealed a positive relationship between the algorithm being implemented and appropriate serum TnT samples being taken. One hundred percent of the serum TnT samples were taken as per recommended guidelines.