Post-Op Open Heart: Day One | 6-Page PDF | 2026–27 Edition

Receiving and managing the fresh cardiac surgery patient — hour by hour through the first postoperative day.

What to verify the moment the patient hits the unit, how to separate expected rewarming from actual bleeding, the chest tube numbers that should make you pick up the phone, and how to recognize tamponade before it declares itself.

Built for the pocket and the break room, not the library — skim the tables before your shift and use the checklists live.

Part of Cardiac Nurse Playbooks. Instant PDF download, yours to keep.

Educational reference material for licensed clinicians and students. Not medical advice, not a protocol, and not a substitute for your facility's policies or physician orders. Values and timeframes are typical published teaching figures, not orders. Where this guide and your unit policy disagree, your unit policy wins.