Once the procedure has been completed George would then move into the final stage of the perioperative journey, the recovery unit. This unit is equipped with standardised  monitoring equipment to allow the recovery practitioner to continuously assess the patient as per the guidance from (Klein et al, 2018) This monitoring also includes capnography to detect end tidal C02. It is the responsibility of the practitioners in recovery to check this equipment is in working order and ready to use.

Recovery practitioners are there to aid the patient in their emergence from anaesthesia in a safe and controlled manner, they will perform continuous assessments on their patient using tools such as the ABCDE assessment to identify any issues that present, and treat them in a quick and efficient manner. One of the most common issues in recovery is post operative pain, and as identified by Hatfield and Craig, (2020) the management of pain is one of the most essential aspect of care given in the recovery room. For George this would be different as having an epidural in situ would alleviate a lot of the post operative discomfort.       

Discharge 

Once George's observations and pain were under control the recovery practitioners would consider if George met the discharge criteria to be sent to HDU. To assess this the recovery practitioner can use tools such as NEWS2 (National Early Warning System) as stated by NICE, (2020) this tool allows for the detection of deterioration in patients.

When satisfied the practitioner will escort George to HDU and handover their care to the nursing staff using the communication tool SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) discussed by Park, (2020). SBAR provides a structured approach to the exchange of information surrounding George's care making those who continue his care aware of any issues or plans affecting George reducing information overload.

However...

However, by the time the procedure had finished George had become highly acidotic due to injurie's inflicted on his kidneys as a result of the clamping of his aorta. The decision was taken to move him directly to intensive care as a level 3 patient, meaning he would be ventilated for the rest of the night to allow kidneys to heal and the disbalance to rectify itself. The plan was to give George more medication through his epidural and attempt to wake him up the next morning.