The Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) has organised a conference to present the ERAS programme, which prepares patients for better functional recovery after surgery. Regarding the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB), the programme’s results and implementation model were presented. In this model, the coordinating role of the nurse stands out
The 1st Conference on Intensified Recovery in Surgery (RIC) and Multimodal Rehabilitation of the Catalan Institute of Health was attended by all the hospitals participating in the ERAS programme (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery). Its goal was that of being a starting point and pooling of the different hospital models, and thus to create a common standard, the ERAS model of the ICS.
The HUB’s ERAS coordinator, José Jerez, opened the conference. He presented the main results achieved so far in terms of reduction of average length of stay in different surgical processes, the level of satisfaction among the programme’s patients and the scalable model of implementation.
Currently, 12 surgical sections and services are already working on ERAS programmes in the HUB with satisfactory results. This is a strategic project, aligned with the hospital's Processes and Evaluation Department in alongside the Nursing Department.
The impact of the ERAS programme
The ERAS programme includes a process improvement from diagnosis to hospital discharge, by applying a set of perioperative strategies based on the best clinical evidence available for each procedure. The aim of this programme is to reduce the cellular and psychological stress of patients who are candidates for a surgical procedure and to favour their recovery, as well as to reduce morbidity and mortality and, thus the time in hospital.