Day surgery patients' convalescence at home: Does enhanced discharge education make a difference?

Abstract

The day surgery concept has been adopted and used widely. To date, there is limited in‐depth research that has reviewed patients' experiences convalescing from day surgery and the degree to which community, medical, allied health and social assistance is required. In addition, research indicates that day surgery patients' educational preparedness may influence patients' abilities to better self‐manage their postoperative recovery. Using a simple interrupted time series design, this study evaluated and compared the efficacy of the existing generic educational instructions with specially designed procedure‐specific instructions. During data collection within Stage 1 and Stage 2 all subjects were asked to complete the Postoperative Symptoms Diary that contained a specifically developed postoperative Symptom Measurement Scale and Symptom Management Index. These patients were interviewed, via telephone, on the 10th day after discharge. The findings revealed that 91% of patients stated they were satisfied having their operation as a day procedure while the most frequently reported symptoms were pain, tiredness and immobility. In addition, it was found that patients needed carer assistance for an average of 3 days. The enhanced teaching package had no effect on patient recovery and their ability to self‐manage. Thus, it was indicated that patient recovery and ability to self‐manage at home may be related to the patient's own healing abilities and understanding of self‐care.

Postoperative recovery and its association with health-related quality of life among day surgery patients

“…Day surgery implies a short period of surveillance at the surgery unit before home discharge. After leaving the surgery unit, patients have to manage postoperative problems on their own together with their personal network [2,3]. Despite this, day surgery is a preferred and desired choice for most patients as it offers an efficient service with minimal disruption of personal habits and routines [4,5].…”

The Relationship of Pain and Nausea in Postoperative Patients for 1 Week After Ambulatory Surgery

“…Readmission to the hospital may occur, with persistent pain mentioned as a common cause. 26,27 The purpose of this study was to determine if postoperative pain level was associated with demographic or surgery-specific characteristics in a sample of 248 participants recovering from ambulatory surgery; and to assess the relationship between high pain and nausea over the 7-day postoperative period in this group, controlling for demographic and surgery-specific covariates. It was hypothesized that high pain would be associated with demographics and surgeryrelated variables, and that degree of pain would be related to nausea over time, even when controlling for personal and surgical variables.…”

Home recovery following day surgery: a patient perspective

“…A number of studies have suggested carer responsibility is likely to increase with the rise in day surgery (Swan et al 1998, Young et al 2000, Erkal 2007. Berg et al (2011) stated patients can take two weeks to recover and require much carer support than suggested during consultation.…”