Crisis Management of Hypotension in the OR

Perioperative nurses play a pivotal role in coordinating care during crises, employing their nursing skills to foster a positive outcome and collaborating with their colleagues and peers to achieve the desired resolution. Whether caring for a patient during a liver transplantation or one undergoing removal of a cyst, perioperative nurses know that a drop in the blood pressure may signal a momentary phenomenon or a critical event that can become a crisis. It is important for nurses to understand how the color of the patient's tissue, the strength of a pulse, or the downward trending of blood pressure readings can affect how well blood is distributed throughout the body and eventually adversely affect cellular viability with prolonged hypotension. Integrating the patient's objective data (ie, blood pressure readings, pulse oximetry) and subjective cues (ie, skin color) are important perioperative nursing skills that demonstrate clinical patient advocacy and judgment and are crucial for the successful treatment of hypotension.