Social Support During Anesthesia Induction in an Adult Surgical Population

Abstract

A surgical procedure is a stressful experience for the patient and his or her support persons. In addition, the unfamiliar OR environment may be overwhelming for the surgical patient. This project assessed whether there is a need for support-person presence during anesthesia induction in the adult surgical population at an academic hospital. A survey was used to measure the respondents' opinions related to different aspects of social support during the induction process. The results of this project did not exhibit a significant need for a support person to be present during anesthesia induction.

Patients' Perspectives on Relatives in the Perioperative Setting: A Danish Study

“…Therefore, there is risk that health care workers are too mechanical and fail to get to know the patient, thereby losing a caring relationship . Because of these challenges and to ensure that patients have a known person by their side to provide support and help during and after treatment, it has become advantageous for health care workers to invite relatives to participate in aspects of patients’ care …”

“…They may drive the patient to and from the hospital, participate in pre‐examinations, and take charge of the patient's postoperative recovery at home . Many relatives participate on the day of surgery, and in some cases, may accompany the patient to the OR and stay during the induction of anesthesia . Some relatives will stay in nearby hotel facilities for the duration of the patient's hospitalization.…”

“…Some patients describe a huge need for care and support from their relatives and feeling safer and less anxious when together, while others have constant worries about their relatives’ participation at the hospital . On the day of surgery and in the OR, patients may be unsure whether relatives could negatively affect safety by distracting health care workers or if nervousness among relatives may increase the patients’ own anxiety . On the contrary, relatives could serve as a buffer to the anxiety that patients feel on the day of surgery, thereby indirectly increasing patient satisfaction and improving treatment outcomes …”

“…In particular, knowledge is lacking about relatives’ participation from the patient perspective. Furthermore, difficulties with balancing the demands placed on relatives and the patients’ and relatives’ needs in the perioperative setting must be explored …”

Coping support as rated by back surgery patients

“…[2,4] Both surgery patients and their families have been found to experience the illness, hospital stay and surgical treatment as stressful. [5,6] The transition from hospital to home is also often marked by feelings of insecurity, stress and coping difficulty and by an increased need for individualized patient education, [2,7] including written self-care instructions and follow-up after discharge. [1,8] Patients and families encountering stressful situations of this kind have been found to require and receive three kinds of social support: informative, emotional and concrete sup-port.…”