The RCH’s ‘My Anaesthetic Passport’ enables parents and staff to follow a specific plan for anaesthesia, safeguarding the needs of each individual patient.
‘My anaesthetic passport’ is a booklet that enables easy reference to detailed information about the anaesthetic process; from what a patient likes to bring with them and what distraction is required, to background medical information and medications previously given under anaesthesia. The passport was developed in conjunction with RCH families, clinical staff and play therapists.
More than 50 oncology patients who require general anaesthetics for regular lumbar punctures were involved in the trial, with the passport introduced in the early stages of treatment.
“When patients or their parents verbally inform staff of their preferences, important pieces of information are often forgotten,” said Educational Play Therapist Olivia Larkens. “It can also get confusing and time consuming when a different team of people is involved each admission, and information from previous anaesthetics needs to be sourced.”
Five-year-old Shannon Knight was the first patient to use the passport.
“It’s made everything so much easier for us,” his mother Paula said. “There’s so much that we need to remember with his anaesthetic, but we are able to get it right every time.”
The passport lists 12 aesthetic preferences for each young patient; including a mask or IV induction, a calm or interactive environment in theatre, and any medications that they need.
Clinical Haematologist Dr Catherine Crock helped develop the tool with RCH parents. She says it’s integral to patient-centred care in day theatres.
“We realised that often parents have such a lot of knowledge about what works best for their child, and we don’t always capture that in the medical records,” Dr Crock said. “The passports bring everyone together as a team and empowers parents to know how important their role is in the safety and security of their children’s procedures.”
“The passport doesn’t replace medical records, but it is a user-friendly way to ensure consistent services for families, so that they are not asked the same questions by different medical staff,” Play and Music Therapy Manager Beth Dunn said. “It makes things easier for RCH anaesthesiologists because they can quickly find out what works best for the child.”
The Anaesthetic Passports will be rolled out to other departments next year.
This article originally appeared in the RCH 2013-14 Quality of Care report, find it here.