Educational role of nurse over a patient after limb amputation

Lower limb amputation or surgical removal of part or all of the organ, affects an increasing number of patients, especially in old age. Currently 90% of lower limb amputations are performed because of existing complications of vascular disease. However, the causes of other subsrtactions are injuries, cancers and malformations. The decision on amputation of the lower limb is made by a specialized team of surgeons taking into account the affected tissue area, extent of the disease process and the general condition of the patient. After amputation, there is a risk of many complications, such as hematomas, infections, necsrosis, contractures, neuromas and pain. Patient rehabilitation should be carried out from the first days after surgery to prevent complications from immobilization. It is very important then to conduct breathing exercises, anticoagulant exercises and preventing the occurrence of contractures. An important task of the nurse is to provide the patient with information n on how to properly lay the stump. To keep the stump in good condition, it is necessary to familiarize the patient with the rules of stump skin care. Before starting the prothesis, the stumpo of the amputated lower limb must be properly shaped, which allows the correct technique of bandaging and hardening the stump. In the process of rehabilitation of a patient after limb amputation, three main periods are distinguished: hospital stage, inpatient stage and postoperative stage of patient rehabilitation.

The main purpose of the work is to determinate the educational role of nurse at every stage of patient improvement after lower limb amputation. Nursing staff undertake many activities aimed to accelerating the adaptation of patients to the new health situation is presented in this paper.