Using patient self-checklist to improve the documentation of risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting: an implementation project

Background and aims: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common surgical complication, affecting 30-50% of patients and 80% in high risk populations. Successful prevention and management of PONV relies on accurately assessing individual risk prior to surgery. A valid and reliable Apfel score is commonly used to assess patients' risk. It is however challenging to translate this evidence into clinical practice. This evidence-based project aimed to identify the current practice of assessing and documenting the risk factors of PONV prior to surgery, and to develop strategies to improve the practice. Methods: The project had three phrases, including forming a team and conducting the baseline audit; identifying problems and developing strategies; and conducting a follow-up tool to assess the impact on compliance with best practice. A research team was formed. A baseline audit was conducted at a public hospital in Victoria in June 2016 to examine PONV risk assessment practice through checking medical files of surgical patients. A getting research into practice audit and feedback tool was used to identify barriers, implementation strategies, stakeholders and resources. After implementation, a second audit was conducted between June and October 2017. Audit criteria were based on a reliable and valid Apfel score. Results: At baseline, accurate PONV risk could only be calculated from 8% of patient files with no file formally recording the risk factors. The proportion of patients with three risk factors preoperatively, indicating high PONV risk, was 5.3%. Barriers identified were the perceived lack of necessity to record the risk, time constraint and too much paperwork. A self-checklist for risk assessment was developed to enable patients to check their own level of risk. Its face validity, construct validity and accuracy were examined. The checklist was then implemented for patients to complete prior to surgery. A number of strategies were used to improve the implementation. The second audit of 1308 files showed that at the end of audit period, 74% of patients had risk assessment conducted and documented postimplementation. 16.8% of the patients were identified as having high PONV risk, nearly triple the number identified at baseline. Conclusion: A simple self-checklist of PONV risk was implemented. It greatly improved PONV risk assessment and documentation in a public hospital in Australia and enabled the identification of patients at high risk.