The aim of this thesis is to describe the correct nursing care to the patient who underwent a hip replacement surgery, preventing post operative complications. This work stresses the importance of the nurse in the care to the patient from the pre-operative to the post-operative stage.
The introduction describes the hip's anatomy.
The next two chapters concern the pathologies that bring the patient to hip replacement surgery, the different kinds of patients and prosthesis.
The last chapters deal with the conditions of the patient in different stages of the operation and nurse's tasks in these stages.
Before being admitted the patient undergoes a check-up and routine exams. During the recovery the patient is accommodated and prepared for the operation, during which the hip prosthesis is implanted. In the post-operative stag the wound id healed and rehabilitation is performed.
This thesis stresses the autonomy in taking care of the patient acquired by the nurse, thanks to the improvement of knowledge and techniques. In the pre-operative stage the nurse takes care of the physical and psychological state of the patient, in order to face the operation in the best conditions. During convalescence the nurse's main tasks are prevention of post-operative complications and promotion of an optimal recovery of the patient's psychophysical state.
To assist in the best way the person, the nurse follows the “nursing assistance procedure”, a method for problem identification and solving that allows an individualized assistance.
