Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service III (Projects aiming at quality service to patients and their carers)
Authors (including presenting author) :
Man TCS (1), Fung SHJ (1), Wan HYS (1), Wong LY(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital
Introduction :
Surgery is considered as one of the most stressful events for many patients and pre-operative anxiety brings negative impacts on both intra-operative and post-operative care, such as increasing anaesthetic medication requirements and post-operative pain. Currently a routine pre-operative nursing visit with verbal education is provided to thoracic patients in Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery (CTSD), Queen Mary Hospital. A pilot project has been developed to use a pamphlet as an additional source of patient information during the pre-operative nursing visit.
Objectives :
1. To develop a new, illustrative and easy-to-read pamphlet regarding operating theatre environment and surgery flow for patients undergoing thoracic surgeries;
2. To reduce pre-operative anxiety levels for patients undergoing elective thoracic surgeries;
3. To evaluate the quality of pre-operative nursing visits
Methodology :
In November 2023, a convenient sample of thoracic patients from CTSD was screened. A “pre-test” vs “post-test” design was adopted. A one-to-one, face-to-face nursing visit was arranged at patients’ bedsides the day before thoracic surgeries, along with the provision of the newly designed pamphlet. The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) was used as the outcome measure. A paired t-test was used to compare anxiety levels before and after the intervention. An additional questionnaire modified from SERVQUAL model was also given to patients after the intervention to evaluate the quality of service delivery.
Result & Outcome :
Out of 19 patients approached, 15 patients participated in this project. 3 patients refused to join due to lack of interest and 1 claimed to be illiterate. The mean APAIS score for pre-test was 15.4 (SD=5.61) out of 30, while the mean APAIS score for post-test was 11.2 (SD=3.85). After the intervention, the mean APAIS score had dropped for 4.2 ( t=5.64, p<0.001). Regarding the quality of service delivery, the mean score was 5.59 (SD=0.40) on a 6-point Likert scale.
A pre-operative nursing visit with the provision of pamphlet can effectively reduce pre-operative anxiety levels for patients undergoing thoracic surgeries. Patients are also satisfied with this new nursing visit service. To embrace the strategy of being paperless and smart hospital, the possibility of uploading the pamphlet in HA go or incorporate the content in video making will be considered for future development.
