The cardiothoracic (CT) surgery clinical team is made up of a group of clinical nurses (nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, registered nurses) and surgical physician assistant, who are specially trained in the care of the cardiothoracic patient. As a team, we focus on providing the best possible patient outcomes and quality of patient care. We value the importance of communicating the plan of care to our patients and of providing opportunities for patient teaching. In the CT surgery practice office, the cardiothoracic clinical nurses assess each patient both before and after their surgery. In order to best meet the unique needs of each patient, the clinical nurse facilitates collaboration with medical and other clinical specialist services when needed. In anticipation of the patient’s discharge from the hospital, the patient is evaluated and referred to appropriate home care agencies by the social work service. These agencies will provide home health care services to our patients as they recover from their surgery at home. At the same time, the clinical nurses will make appointments for patients to return to the CT surgery office for their post-operative evaluation and to their medical care provider for their usual medical care. For patients who lack health insurance, the clinical nurses initiate referrals to city hospitals or community out reach centers. The cardiothoracic nurses are always available to assist the patients and their family with any concerns.
In addition to the establishment of the clinical nurse team, we are fortunate to have recruited one of the top cardiac surgical physician assistant in the New York Metropolitan area, who is highly experienced in performing endoscopic harvesting of saphenous vein and radial artery. With this new recruitment of a specialized surgical physician assistant, the first Endoscopic Radial Artery Harvest was performed at SUNY Downstate in December 2007, providing our patients with the highest level of clinical standards and benefits.
The clinical team members work under the direction of the cardiothoracic surgeons and intensivist. Our clinical personnel based their clinical care upon evidence-base practice guideline for the best patient care results |
