In 2007, the Journal Club department will expand on the medical-legal issues in plastic surgery. The Medical-Legal Panel presented at the 2006 National Convention was well received, therefore, we would like to break it down and address specific topics over the next several journal club issues. We hope you will find these articles on "patient selection criteria" helpful in your practice.

Patient selection criteria are important components of the preoperative evaluation. It should be an ongoing component of any patient encounter. These criteria are as important in the reconstructive patient as they are for the cosmetic patient. For example, does the patient have realistic expectations? If a patient is undergoing breast reconstruction, is she prepared for the fact that the reconstructed breast will not be as good as her natural breast? Is the patient a nonsmoker and in relative good health to withstand the rigors of the surgery proposed?

What does patient selection criteria mean? It is a combination of good surgical judgment, "gut feelings," common sense, and personality interactions. The central theme through most of the articles reviewed is to use patient selection guidelines. Examples of these guidelines would include avoiding the following: patients with unrealistic expectations, patients with excessive demands, patients that are rude or abusive to office staff, the secretive patient, the "surgiholic," and a patient whom the surgeon and nurse simply dislike or cannot make the right connection with.

Section Description

The Journal Club provides commentaries on topical studies relevant to plastic surgical nursing practice. Anyone with a suggestion for a particular topic may contact the Section Editors, Dawn Sagrillo, BSN, RN, CPSN, at [email protected], or Sue Kunz, BS, RN, CPSN, at [email protected].